NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many contracts his Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract are held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Owen Paterson: None.

TRANSPORT

Car Hire: Young People

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the level of road safety of requiring car rental and leasing companies to hire vehicles to people aged under 23; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: No assessment has been made. There are provisions in the Equalities Act 2010 banning age discrimination in services, public functions and associations. The Government Equalities Office has issued a consultation on proposed exemptions to the ban, which runs until 25 May 2011, with a view to new provisions coming into force in April 2012. It does not propose a specific exception for vehicle rental companies to deny services to drivers in high risk age groups, but accepts that they should be able to justify various proportionate measures to manage the risks, including requiring a minimum level of driving experience; not renting cars to people with adverse driving records; and charging higher prices to drivers in high risk groups.

Driving Offences: Fines

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of speeding fines issued to citizens of EU countries other than the UK were paid in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: While there will have been overseas drivers caught by police for speeding, brought before the court, and fined at the time, the current system does not enable us to interrogate it sufficiently to record payments made by the nationality of the offender.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department’s consultation on High Speed 2 assesses the potential economic effects of the project on the level of air passenger demand.

Philip Hammond: The “Economic Case for HS2”, sets out the Government’s assessment of the impact of the proposed high speed rail network on air travel, available on the HS2 consultation website at:
	http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/library/documents/economic-case

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the average house price within 1,000 metres of the route of High Speed 2 in Staffordshire in (a) February 2010 and (b) April 2011.

Philip Hammond: My Department has not undertaken such an assessment. However, I recognise that owners of properties close to the proposed route may be experiencing blight. The exceptional hardship scheme is available now to assist those who urgently need to move but are unable to sell their property because of the high speed rail proposals. Further information on the exceptional hardship scheme can be found at:
	http://www.hs2.org.uk/exceptional-hardship-scheme?pageid=1
	Additionally, the current consultation on high speed rail includes information about the statutory provisions that would be available to people experiencing blight, as well as several options for additional discretionary assistance on which I would welcome people’s views. The high speed rail consultation document can be found at:
	http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/

Motorcycles

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many motorcycle examiners have worked with the Transport Research Laboratory on trials of the proposed new motorcycle test since June 2010;
	(2)  how many trials of the proposed new motorcycle test the Transport Research Laboratory has conducted on the public highway since June 2010; at what location in each case; and how many more such trials he expects to be conducted before the proposals for a single motorcycle test event are put out to public consultation;
	(3)  what the total monetary value is of the contract between his Department and the Transport Research Laboratory for the trial of a new motorcycle test; how many motorcycle examiners are required to work on the trial at each stage; and what estimate he has made of the total number of working hours motorcycle examiners will have spent on the trial at its conclusion.

Michael Penning: No contract between the Department for Transport and the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) for trials of changes to the motorcycle test has yet been let. TRL has not conducted any trials of the proposed new motorcycle test since June 2010, on or off the highway, so no motorcycle examiners have been involved in trials by TRL. We plan that such trials will be carried out before we proceed to public consultation on the proposed changes to the motorcycle test.

Railways: Standards

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with Network Rail on recent signal failures; and if he will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: I regularly meet Network Rail and other key industry bodies to discuss performance issues on the network. Network Rail has briefed me on the recent signal failures, and the measures taken to minimise the impact and likelihood of such failures.

Roads: Accidents

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential role of targets in achieving reductions in deaths and serious injuries on roads.

Michael Penning: We have concluded that the best way to build on the UK's enviable record on road safety and ensure a continuing decline in road deaths and seriously injured accidents is to set out a new policy framework for road safety, including a significant degree of devolution to local authorities, rather than a series of numerical targets.

Taxis: Disability

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 relating to taxis, private hire vehicles and accessibility for disabled persons and assistance dogs to be implemented; and when he expects to launch his Department’s consultation on the proportion of wheelchair accessible vehicles per local fleet that must be met before a licensing authority can refuse to grant a licence for a wheelchair accessible vehicle for the purpose of controlling taxi numbers.

Norman Baker: holding answer 28 April 2011
	The sections of the Equality Act 2010 which place duties on taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to carry assistance dogs came into force in October 2010.
	Section 166, which allows taxi and PHV drivers to be exempt from the duties to assist passengers in wheelchairs for medical reasons, or under certain defined conditions, also came into force in October 2010.
	We are currently considering the commencement strategy for sections 165 and 167 which deal with the imposition of the duties on taxi and PHV drivers to assist passengers in wheelchairs. We are also considering the commencement strategy for section 161 which qualifies local authorities’ power to control taxi numbers. We will consult before making any regulations under this section, but we have not yet set a timetable for doing so.
	The Department has no immediate plans to implement those sections of the Equality Act which are associated with a requirement for all taxis to meet certain accessibility standards.

Thameslink: Rolling Stock

Margaret Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce the successful bidder for the Thameslink rolling stock order.

Theresa Villiers: My officials are continuing to evaluate the bids from the two remaining bidders in the competition to build the new trains for Thameslink. We are planning to announce the preferred bidder shortly.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

BBC Trust

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Southend West (Mr Amess) of 3 May 2011, Official Report, columns 630-31W, on BBC, what the new arrangements are on which his Department is working with the BBC Trust.

Jeremy Hunt: The new arrangements being negotiated are those which will enable the National Audit Office to have full access to the BBC’s accounts; and which will give the National Audit Office the discretion to decide in which areas of BBC expenditure it can undertake value-for-money investigations. This was announced by my Department on 22 September 2010 at:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/media_releases/7438.aspx

Broadcasting

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2011, Official Report, column 764, on broadcasting, whether he proposes to hold a public consultation in advance of publication of his Communications Green Paper.

Jeremy Hunt: The Green Paper will be the primary mechanism for public consultation prior to drafting a White Paper and a draft Bill. There will be a period of engagement with interested parties leading to the publication of the Green Paper. We will outline our approach to the review via an open letter which will be published shortly.

Creative Industries Council

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to publish the minutes of meetings of the Creative Industry Council.

Jeremy Hunt: Minutes of Creative Industries Council meetings will be published via the DCMS website at:
	www.culture.gov.uk

Creative Industries Council

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what criteria he proposes to use to decide which organisations will be represented on the Creative Industries Council.

Jeremy Hunt: The group which met for the first time at the roundtable on 16 March was taken as the basis for the council membership. Following the model of the Automotive Council membership is comprised primarily of industry members with some representation from trade associations and other representative bodies.
	Although it will not be possible to include all stakeholders with an interest in the membership of the council, this group provides cross-cutting representation from a wide spectrum of the creative and digital industries, as well as representation from smaller businesses, so each of the sub sectors and interests will have an opportunity to contribute.

Departmental Legal Costs

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much his Department paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against his Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled in each of the last three years.

John Penrose: Zero.

Heritage Lottery Fund

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many charities in Crewe and Nantwich constituency have (a) applied for and (b) received awards from the Heritage Lottery Fund in each year since its establishment.

John Penrose: Since the Heritage Lottery Fund was established 15 applications have been received from, and seven awards made to, charities in the Crewe and Nantwich constituency. A breakdown can be found in the following table:
	
		
			 Number 
			  Applications Awards 
			 1995 2 0 
			 1996 3 2 
			 1997 0 0 
			 1998 1 0 
			 1999 3 2 
			 2000 1 0 
			 2001 0 0 
			 2002 0 0 
			 2003 0 0 
			 2004 1 0 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 1 1 
			 2007 0 0 
			 2008 0 0 
			 2009 0 0 
			 2010 2 1 
			 2011 1 1 
			 Total 15 7

National Lottery: Sports

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what financial assistance (a) his Department and (b) the national lottery has given to (i) amateur sports clubs and (ii) professional sports clubs in Crewe and Nantwich constituency since 2010.

John Penrose: Sport England invests national lottery and Exchequer funding in community sport. Although Sport England does not record the amount of financial assistance specifically provided to amateur and professional sports clubs in constituency areas, £86,741 of lottery funding has been awarded to community sport in the Crewe and Nantwich constituency since January 2010. No Exchequer funding has been awarded during this time.

Scratch Cards: Gambling

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will assess the potential effect on levels of gambling (a) in general and (b) among vulnerable people of the introduction of a £5 National Lottery scratchcard.

John Penrose: The National Lottery Commission scrutinised Camelot's proposals for £5 scratchcard games, to ensure that they were safe for players and did not encourage excessive play, before allowing the first such product to be launched for sale in October 2003. No such concerns have been identified since their introduction but, as with all licensed games, the Commission will continue to monitor sales data from Camelot and will take appropriate action should any issues arise.

SCOTLAND

Offshore Industry

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date he most recently met representatives of the Scottish oil and gas industry; and what the outcome was of those discussions.

Michael Moore: I last met representatives of the oil and gas industry on 31 March 2011. At this meeting we discussed concerns expressed about the impact of the fair fuel stabiliser on investment in the North sea oil and gas sector. The Government are listening to those concerns. We will work with the industry to ensure that the fair fuel stabiliser is implemented in a responsible way.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Allotments

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has any plans to make it easier for community groups to establish allotments.

James Paice: The Government strongly support the need for more growing spaces to be made available for people to grow their own fruit and vegetables, as a contribution to helping people understand more about where food comes from and to eat a healthy, sustainable diet. Allotment authorities have a duty to provide plots for growing food to persons resident in the area and there are no plans to change this. In addition, my officials are in regular discussion with the Department for Communities and Local Government to develop initiatives to release land which could be used by community groups and individuals wanting to grow their own food.
	The Government are funding the development of a ‘meanwhile lease' by DCLG, which would help provide access to land on a temporary basis for community groups and individuals wanting to grow food. DEFRA and DCLG have also jointly funded feasibility work into ‘community landbanks'—effectively a land brokerage advisory service that would facilitate agreements between landholders and community groups on releasing land for community growing.

Animal Welfare

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to improve the level of animal health and welfare in the (a) farming and (b) pet industry since May 2010.

James Paice: We are setting up a new Animal Health and Welfare Board for England to have responsibility for strategic animal health and welfare policy, and oversight of its delivery in relation to England. Groups within the new rural and farming network will be able to engage with Ministers on local animal health and welfare issues.
	On 1 April we combined DEFRA's two key agencies for protecting animal health and welfare into a single body: the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency. This will enhance a joined up approach to responding to animal diseases and protecting the welfare of farmed animals.
	A new Strategic Animal Health Policy Programme has also recently been launched, building on work done to minimise the impact of exotic diseases, through which we will be working closely with industry to promote activities which can help maintain animal health by preventing disease incursion.
	We have placed increased emphasis on working with core groups of stakeholders to deliver better understanding and response to exotic notifiable disease incidents and emergencies and to develop new disease control strategies.
	Working closely with farmers, the veterinary profession and others, we have made good progress towards improving the level of animal health and welfare:
	We conducted a public consultation at the end of 2010 on the Government's approach to tackling bovine tuberculosis (TB) and a badger control policy, which also highlighted a number of planned changes to existing cattle measures to ensure that that they are better targeted on the basis of disease risk. We will be announcing a comprehensive and balanced TB eradication programme for England as soon as possible.
	We have reviewed the implementation of the Veterinary Surveillance Strategy to ensure that risks and emerging threats are effectively identified and prioritised. We continually monitor and assess the global animal health situation to help inform risk-based controls on imports of animals and animal products.
	We have continued to support the development of a surveillance system for diseases and issues in pet animals. This has been led by the University of Liverpool using a consortium approach and has now completed a successful pilot project, the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network, which is now accessing data from veterinary surgeons and veterinary laboratories across the United Kingdom.
	We have improved our arrangements for conducting veterinary risk assessments and prioritisation and established a standardised, peer-reviewed evidence base for policy development.
	We have continued to work to improve the availability of veterinary medicines for farm and pet animals by, for example, allowing the importation of medicines from other member states when there is a supply problem in the UK.
	We implemented EU Council Directive 2007/43, which lays down minimum standards to protect the welfare of conventionally reared meat chickens. The implementing regulations set a maximum stocking density of 39 kg/m(2), sets training requirements for all keepers and requires post mortem conditions and mortality rates to be assessed as an indicator of on-farm welfare.
	The Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes came into force in January 2011.
	DEFRA completed its review of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and presented its findings in the form of a Command Paper to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in December 2010.

Carbon Emissions

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will include in the proposed Roadmap to a Green Economy a commitment to (a) measure and (b) reduce the UK's total carbon footprint, including (i) emissions from consumption and (ii) outsourced emissions embedded in imports.

James Paice: In 2008 DEFRA published an evidence study that measured UK embedded emissions: “Embedded carbon emissions indicator—EV02033”. We are now carrying out further work to update these findings.
	DEFRA is involved in a range of actions that will be covered in the Green Economy Roadmap to tackle embedded emissions. These actions include mandatory efficiency standards for energy using products, helping businesses to improve the efficiency of their supply chains, establishing voluntary agreements with businesses, introducing mandatory Government Buying Standards, advising on environmental claims and labels, and encouraging pro-environmental behaviours.

Departmental Legal Opinion

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many veterinarians are employed in her Department's legal team.

James Paice: None.

Horse Passports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps her Department has taken in respect of horse owners who do not possess a passport for a horse; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: All horse owners are required by law to obtain a passport for each horse they own and it is the responsibility of the appropriate local environmental health and trading standards officers to enforce the horse passport regulations throughout England. Penalties can be applied by the courts for non-compliance.

Ivory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the illegal importation of ivory.

Richard Benyon: I announced on 2 March 2011 that the illegal trade in elephant ivory and all other species listed under the convention on international trade in endangered species is a UK wildlife crime priority, and it will continue to be tackled vigorously by the enforcement agencies.

Palm Oil: Labelling

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to support the mandatory labelling of palm oil on food packaging in negotiations on the revision of European regulations on food labelling; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: Current food labelling law permits manufacturers to choose to label oils, when used as ingredients, under the generic name ‘vegetable oil' (which could include any mixture of refined oil, other than olive oil) to allow for variability of supply in the type of the oils used and avoid label changes. If the palm oil was to be sold on its own it would need to be sold using the term ‘palm oil' or any name that was sufficiently precise to indicate the true nature of the food and to distinguish it from any other food with which it could be confused, or a customary name.
	Amendment 387 to the proposed food information regulation which will replace the existing food labelling directive (from which our legislation derives) has been proposed by the European Parliament. This would make it mandatory for all the specific types of vegetable oil, including palm oil, to be separately labelled in food ingredients. It is one of a number of amendments asking for more information to be provided about oils which are used as an ingredient in pre-packed foods. Discussions on the regulation are ongoing and it is unclear whether this provision will be included in the final regulation.
	I consider that this requirement for mandatory labelling of all vegetable oils in foods is unlikely to be a cost-effective approach to improving the sustainability of palm oil production and consumption. It may be burdensome for businesses to identify all the individual oils given the high number of products affected, often containing only small quantities of oils, and it would not inform consumers about whether or not the palm or other oils were sustainably produced. There is nothing to prevent manufacturers providing further information on a voluntary basis.

Pesticides: Bees

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many acres of arable cropland are regularly treated with neonicotinoid pesticides; where such croplands are located; and what studies her Department has (a) evaluated and (b) commissioned on bee population levels in those areas.

James Paice: Information from the published 2008 Great Britain Arable Survey under the Government's Pesticides Usage Survey Programme shows that across England (898,455 hectares), Scotland (53,126 hectares) and Wales (6,034 hectares) a total area of 957,615 hectares was treated with neonicotinoid insecticides. More information on the Government's Pesticide Usage Survey programme is available on the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) website.
	No specific study has been commissioned on honey bee population levels in areas treated with neonicotinoid insecticides.

Pets: Complementary Medicine

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to tackle the sale of unauthorised herbal and homeopathic pet remedies in 2011; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: Where unauthorised herbal medicines have been brought to the attention of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), letters have been written to the suppliers with a view to ensuring these products are remarketed in compliance with the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2009. The VMD has entered into correspondence about five such products.
	No similar action has been taken in relation to any specific homeopathic product, since complaints have not been received from interested third parties. However, the VMD is aware of general concerns about the safety of homeopathic nosodes and sarcodes and investigations are being considered.
	When the need to enforce the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2009 is identified, the VMD's enforcement strategy is followed. The strategy can be found on the VMD's website at:
	http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/public/enforcement.aspx
	It lays out a step-wise and proportionate approach to enforcement, which begins with a letter to set out how compliance with the law has not been met. Only when the correspondence has been completed and enforcement actions continue to be required will penalties such as improvement notices be issued. If necessary, a subsequent resolution through the courts can be sought.

Pigeons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department is taking steps to reduce the number of pigeons in England.

Richard Benyon: Pigeons are an agricultural pest and in more urban areas pigeons carry a range of diseases that can be harmful to humans. For this reason, Natural England issues a general licence, which allows authorised persons (e.g. owners/occupiers/local authorities or persons authorised by them) to kill or take these birds all year round. The licensing regime provides a legal framework within which local authorities and other authorised persons can take action to address a particular problem. The licence permits adult population control, egg control and nest clearance.
	DEFRA has no plans to instigate a national pigeon control programme.

River Rom

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps have been taken to improve, manage and maintain the River Rom in Essex.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency spends approximately £40,000 per annum in carrying out maintenance and programmed debris clearance of the River Rom and its tributaries.
	The maintenance regime includes trimming vegetation growth annually on the River Rom during the winter months and on the main tributaries during the summer. The Environment Agency also inspects these rivers every month and removes any debris likely to obstruct flood flows.
	This regime has been in place for many years, and will continue as long as priorities and funding allow. However ultimate responsibility for the maintenance and repair of any watercourse rests with the riparian owner.

Rural Areas: Community Development

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many bodies have participated in the LEADER programme in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

James Paice: There are currently 64 local action groups (LAGs) that implement the Leader approach under the Rural Development Programme for England. LAG membership is made up of representatives from a range of local organisations as well as individuals. These would usually include representatives of local authorities but actual membership will vary depending on local interests and businesses.
	In each of the last three calendar years the number of projects proposed by local organisations and individuals and approved by LAGs is:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008 41 
			 2009 538 
			 2010 1,334

Squirrels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimates she has made of the number of black squirrels in England.

Richard Benyon: Black squirrels are a colour variant of the non-native American grey squirrel. Although no specific monitoring of their numbers is undertaken, they have been reported as being present in several areas in England, including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire.

Squirrels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to ensure the long-term survival of red squirrels in England;
	(2)  what recent steps her Department has taken to affect the number of red squirrels in England.

Richard Benyon: In England, the approach to red squirrel conservation is to secure long-term habitat and conditions favouring the red squirrel in areas which grey squirrels have not yet reached in significant numbers, and to limit grey squirrel expansion into these areas.
	The Forestry Commission and Natural England are, on behalf of the Government, delivering this policy in partnership with the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, the Wildlife Trusts, landowners and volunteers, through the Red Squirrel North England Project. A project manager has been employed by the Red Squirrel Survival Trust with the remaining staff being hired by the Wildlife Trusts. Funding is being provided by all partners and volunteers will be taking a central role in the new project.
	In the north of England 17 reserves have been identified where long-term survival of the species is considered most likely. Targeted control of grey squirrels is carried out in the reserves and surrounding buffer zones. In addition, the reserves and surrounding areas are being managed in ways that favour red squirrels. In the south-east, where there are secure populations on the Isle of Wight and Poole Harbour islands, there is an action plan in place to respond to the appearance of grey squirrels.

Tree Planting

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many voluntary groups in the west midlands have joined the Big Tree Plant scheme.

James Paice: The Big Tree Plant is helping communities in England to plant a million trees in areas where they live and work over the course of this Parliament. Civil society partners and volunteers have been very active in the west midlands.
	Voluntary groups do not “sign up” but they are welcome to contribute to the Big Tree Plant by registering trees planted through the project website or by applying to the twice yearly Grant Scheme competition. About 70 groups or individuals (including several from the west midlands) have registered their trees through the website so far; while for the Grant Scheme we will announce the conclusion of the first round and the date of the next deadline soon.

UN Convention on Biodiversity's Nagoya Protocol

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by what (a) date and (b) process she intends to sign and ratify the UN Convention on Biodiversity's Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing.

Richard Benyon: The UK was highly influential in bringing the negotiations on access and benefit sharing to a successful conclusion in Nagoya. The resulting protocol to bring the agreement into effect was opened for signature in February, but many contracting parties have had to delay signature because of a translation problem. This is likely to be resolved in June and we expect to be able to sign soon afterwards. It will be signed by the British ambassador to the United Nations in New York, as the United Nations is the depositary for the protocol. The process of ratification will take longer.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh: Special Educational Needs

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department has provided for the provision of education in Bangladesh to children with special education needs.

Alan Duncan: UK support to the Bangladesh second Primary Education Development Programme (PEDPII) helped benefit 78,000 children with special needs in government primary schools between 2004 and 2011. It also developed relevant policy and guidance. The largest non-government organisation in the world, BRAC, provided high quality primary school education to 28,000 children with special needs in 2010, mainly with UK Government support.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department provided to Burma in 2009-10; and how much it plans to provide to that country for (a) cross-border humanitarian aid, (b) education and (c) health care in each of the next four years.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided a total of £28 million in bilateral aid to Burma in 2009-10.
	Over the next four years, we plan to focus our aid for Burma on health care, education, livelihoods, civil society and humanitarian assistance. A detailed breakdown by sector and year will appear in DFID's Operational Plan for Burma which will be published on our website at the end of this month.
	Specific sums have not yet been allocated to cross-border aid. We plan to continue to deliver aid cross-border where that is the best way of reaching people in greatest need. Specific project allocations will be decided on the basis of detailed assessments of effectiveness, and value for money in achieving results.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the funding allocated by his Department to support the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been allocated to support (a) the participation of female parliamentary candidates and (b) the registration of female voters.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £30 million through the United Nations to support the 2007-13 electoral cycle in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of this, £625,000 has been set aside specifically to improve the participation of women in voter registration, elections and candidacy to Parliament. Our support should ensure that at least 52% of citizens registered to vote and casting their vote are women. In addition, DFID is also providing £1.5 million of support through the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to improve public understanding of the electoral process, particularly among women and first-time voters.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on recent disruption by the Congolese national police of political opposition rallies in (a) Bukavu and (b) other parts of the DRC.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) works in close partnership with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in promoting free and fair elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Together we closely monitor reports of intimidation and harassment of opposition figures. We work with our EU partners to follow up cases of concern, and liaise regularly with the UN stabilisation mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) Joint Human Rights Office and local NGOs to assess the situation. We continue to press the Government of the DRC at the highest levels on these issues, including during recent meetings with the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister.
	Additionally, we are working to support a transition towards democratic policing in DRC. Central to this is improving respect for human rights. We are actively engaging with the Government of the DRC, provincial governments and the police to promote adherence to democratic principles of policing during the elections process.

Departmental Manpower

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in which overseas countries UK-employed staff of his Department are based; and how many such employees are based in each such country.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development does not publish the numbers of staff serving overseas by specific location as this may represent a security risk to such staff, especially those serving in fragile states or hostile environments.
	As at the end of April 2011 we had 412 UK employed civil servants serving in 43 overseas countries: Afghanistan; Barbados; Belgium; Brazil; Burma; Burundi; China; Democratic Republic of Congo; Bangladesh; India; Indonesia; Nigeria; South Africa; Ethiopia; France; Ghana; Guyana; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kosovo; Kyrgyzstan; Malawi; Montserrat; Mozambique; Nepal; Pakistan; Rwanda; Sierra Leone; St Helena; Sudan; Switzerland; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Uganda; USA; Vietnam; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe.

Developing Countries: Education

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to enable children who do not have access to education to do so.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development is working to support partner governments to overcome the barriers that children face in accessing education. We are investing in methods that are proven to work, such as reducing the cost of education, and we are pursuing flexible and responsive approaches to education in situations of fragility or conflict, including through partnerships with non-state providers.
	As stated in the DFID publication ‘UK Aid: Changing Lives, Delivering Results’, we pledge to support at least nine million children in primary school, over half of whom will be girls, and two million children in secondary school by 2014.

Developing Countries: Food

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to assist the UN World Food Programme.

Alan Duncan: The UN World Food Programme was assessed as a strong performer in the Department for International Development's Multilateral Aid Review. The Government are currently considering UK support to the organisation in light of this review and our response to the Humanitarian and Emergency Response Review which will be announced shortly.

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

Security Certificate

Priti Patel: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, for what reason the security certificate for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority website has expired.

Charles Walker: It has not been possible to provide a response to this question by the named day. An answer will be provided as soon as possible.
	Substantive answer from Charles Walker to Priti Patel:
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	Letter from Scott Woolveridge, dated May 2011
	As acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what reason the security certificate for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority website has expired.
	The certificate purchased was valid for 12 months and it reached its expiry date. The certificate was purchased by the IPSA implementation team (which is no longer in place) in March 2010 and activated in April 2010 and the renewal notice was sent to the registered purchaser, not to IPSA or our managed service provider, Calyx. Future renewals will be managed by our IT contractor to ensure that this problem is not repeated.
	The certificate has now been renewed.

Security Certificate

Priti Patel: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, on what date the security certificate for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority website expired; when the security certificate will be renewed; what assessment has been made of any risks resulting from the expiration of the security certificate; and who was responsible for permitting the security certificate to expire.

Charles Walker: It has not been possible to provide a response to this question by the named day. An answer will be provided as soon as possible.
	Substantive answer from Charles Walker to Priti Patel:
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	Letter from Scott Woolveridge, dated May 2011
	As acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking when the security certificate for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority website expired; when the security certificate will be renewed; what assessment has been made of any risks resulting from the expiration of the security certificate; and who was responsible for permitting the security certificate to expire.
	The certificate expired on the 20 April 2011 and was renewed on the 5 May 2011. An assessment of the risks was undertaken by our managed service provider, Calyx, at the time and the risk was deemed to be low and that security levels were not diminished during this period.
	The certificate was purchased by the IPSA implementation team (which is no longer in place) in March 2010 and the renewal notice was sent to the registered purchaser, not to IPSA or to Calyx. Future renewals will be managed by our IT contractor to ensure that this problem is not repeated.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

David Kelly

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Attorney-General how many representations he has received on the need for a coroner's inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly.

Dominic Grieve: There has been a large amount of correspondence received on this matter since the first request was made to the Attorney-General to apply to the court for an inquest to be ordered into the death of Dr David Kelly by the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) in 2008. Since then representations have been made by letter, e-mail and telephone. No complete record of the total number of representations made has been maintained. However, I can say that since July 2010 I have given 14 written replies in answer to letters from Members of Parliament. In addition, since January 2011, I have received 82 pieces of correspondence from 22 individuals making representations of some kind in respect of this matter.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Absent Voting

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many postal votes were issued for (a) the 2010 general election and (b) elections held in May 2011.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that nearly 7 million postal votes were issued across the UK at the 2010 parliamentary general election.
	The Electoral Commission is currently collecting data for the 5 May elections from Returning Officers, including the number of postal votes issued. The commission will include final figures for the number of postal votes issued in its report on the elections, which is due to be published in the autumn.

Alternative Vote

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, for what reason no counting of votes for the referendum on the alternative vote was permitted until 4:00 pm on 6 May 2011.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the chair of the commission, as chief counting officer for the referendum, announced her decision on the timing of the count, and the reasons for it, in December 2010. This followed consultation with Members of Parliament, electoral administrators, potential campaigners —including political parties—and broadcasters across the UK.
	The decision was taken because the commission believes it is important that voters should know who represents them, and who will form new governments and councils, as soon as possible. Starting the referendum count the next day meant that the counts for the scheduled elections could take place as soon as possible after the close of poll, while also allowing the result of the referendum to be counted on a UK-wide basis.
	The commission further informs me that the chief counting officer's consultation and decision papers were published on its website and disseminated to a wide group of interested parties, including Members of Parliament. Copies of those papers have also been placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Christianity

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the rights of Christians are observed in Afghanistan.

Alistair Burt: We work closely with international partners to monitor the situation of Afghan Christians and to raise this issue with the Afghan Government.
	We continue to remind the Afghan Government of their duty to abide by their national and international commitments on freedom of religion and belief, and to respect the freedom of worship as enshrined in the Afghan Constitution.

Bahrain: United Arab Emirates

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the number of (a) military personnel and (b) police officers that the United Arab Emirates contributed to the Gulf Co-operation Council force despatched to Bahrain in March 2011.

Alistair Burt: On 14 March 2011 Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) forces were deployed to Bahrain in response to a Bahraini request for assistance under the GCC Peninsula Shield agreement. This included a military contingent from United Arab Emirates (UAE). No confirmed figures for the exact number of UAE personnel are available.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on facilitating grave-tending visits to the Chagos Islands in each of the last 10 years.

Henry Bellingham: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The budget for the current year for visits of all kinds (grave-tending, heritage, environmental work, etc.) is £50,000.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department are stationed in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Henry Bellingham: There are no Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials stationed in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people illegally residing in the British Indian Ocean Territory were evicted in each of the last 10 years.

Henry Bellingham: The Clerk of the Court is only required to hold records for the last five years. During this period, there have been no evictions for illegally residing in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Environment Protection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Marine Protected Area around the Chagos archipelago is enforced.

Henry Bellingham: Enforcement is led by a marine protection officer working on board the Pacific Marlin patrol boat. The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration operates a system of permits to control access to and activities within the Marine Protected Area. We also work closely with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to limit illegal fishing.

Departmental Pay

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what additional pay he plans to provide to officials in his Department in the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013 to reflect (a) seniority, (b) promotion and (c) performance.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) plans to provide the following additional pay to officials in the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013. All payments adhere to central guidance issued by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury.
	(a) Seniority—The FCO does not make additional payments to any staff based on seniority.
	(b) Promotion—For staff below the senior civil service (SCS) we plan that promotion between grades within a payband will continue to attract a salary increase of 7.5% or an increase to the higher grade minimum. Promotion to a higher payband will continue to attract a salary increase of 10% or an increase to the higher grade minimum.
	Staff being promoted to or within the SCS will continue to attract a salary increase of 10% or to the higher grade minimum.
	(c) Performance—Staff below the SCS enter the 2-year public sector pay freeze for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013, so there will be no base pay increases for those earning over £21,000. We will continue to pay performance related pay linked to the annual appraisal process. The amounts paid will range from £720 to £2,990.
	Performance related pay (PRP) for staff in the SCS follows central guidelines issued annually by the Cabinet Office, following recommendations by the Senior Salaries Review Body. For 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 we will pay PRP to the top 25% of performers only. This relates to performance in the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. The amounts paid will be according to guidance from Cabinet Office.
	We do not yet know what will be paid from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.

Hamas: Guided Weapons

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the acquisition by Hamas of long-range rocket and high-specification anti-aircraft missiles; what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We are concerned by reports that Hamas continue to acquire and test a variety of weapons. This is a continuing picture and we are not able to comment further on the detail. However, we have long made it clear that the arming and funding of Hamas and other Palestinian rejectionist groups is unacceptable.

Ilois: Resettlement

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to enable Chagos Islanders to return to the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Henry Bellingham: This Government believe that, on the grounds of feasibility and defence security, there are clear and compelling reasons to oppose the resettlement of British Indian Ocean Territory. However, we have facilitated a number of visits to the islands for former inhabitants and their descendants, including to assist with environmental projects, and will continue to do so.

Israel: Terrorism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on Israel's security concerns since 14 February 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We have regular dialogue with the Government of Israel at both ministerial and official level. The Prime Minister met with the Israeli Prime Minister on 4 May. I visited Israel and the Occupied Territories in January 2011 and met Foreign Minister Lieberman. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also visited in November 2011. Foreign Minister Lieberman met with the Foreign Secretary and myself when he visited London on 24 January 2011. Officials will attend the rescheduled Strategic Dialogue talks in the summer 2011 in Israel. A wide range of issues will be discussed at these various meetings, including security.

Middle East: Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 26 April 2011, Official Report, columns 395-6W, on Middle East: anti-Semitism, if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the independent research from institutions such as Chatham House, Carnegie Middle East Centre and the Brookings Institute and (b) the report mapping Arab public opinion towards Israel, across six Arab states referred to in the answer; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Chatham House has not produced any recent analysis specifically focused on anti-Semitism. However, I will place in the Library a copy of the 2010 report analysing Anti-Semitism Worldwide produced by the Steven Roth Institute at Tel Aviv University. An original copy can be found at:
	http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/
	I will also place a copy of the 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll by the Carnegie Middle East Centre in partnership with the Brookings Institute in the Library as requested. An original copy may be found at:
	http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2010/0805_arab_opinion _poll_telhami.aspx

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his UN counterparts on Judge Goldstone's recent comments on his report on the Gaza war; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Goldstone report outlines serious allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law during the Gaza conflict. Justice Goldstone stated in his recent comments that some aspects of his report would look differently in light of new evidence, correcting the allegation in the report that Israel intentionally targeted civilians.
	Justice Goldstone has made clear that there is no reason to reconsider the various other serious allegations contained in the report at this time. This is consistent with our longstanding policy of calling for full, credible and independent investigations by the parties into any and all allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL).
	Allegations of breaches of IHL made against all parties to the Gaza conflict are not limited to the Goldstone report and have arisen from various other credible sources. We firmly believe that any and all such allegations must be met with credible and independent investigations by the parties to the conflict.

Middle East: British Nationals Abroad

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has distributed guidance to British nationals in (a) Tunisia, (b) Egypt and (c) Libya during the recent political unrest in those countries on (i) consular arrangements which his Department has put in place to represent British interests through the embassies of other countries and (ii) their rights under Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: holding answer 10 May 2011
	Our embassies in Tunis and Cairo remained functional throughout recent events and this question therefore did not arise there. In Libya, the Hungarian embassy remains open and British nationals can seek assistance there or from any other EU member state embassy that remains open. The Hungarians have already provided consular assistance to a number of unrepresented EU nationals in Libya. Arrangements for accessing consular assistance have been communicated to British nationals through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice, available on the FCO website.
	We also distribute guidance to British nationals regarding their rights under Article 20. This is set out in the FCO publication “Support for British nationals abroad” which is also available on the FCO website. While the guide does not explicitly mention Article 20, it makes clear that if British nationals need help in a country where there is no British diplomatic or consular mission, they can receive help from the diplomatic or consular mission of another member of the European Union.

Middle East: Peace Negotiations

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to press (a) Hamas and (b) other Palestinian terrorist organisations to renounce violence; what discussions he has had with (i) the government of Israel, (ii) the Palestinian Authority and (iii) the Arab League on this issue; and if he will make a statement; [R]
	(2)  what recent steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to press Hamas to accept the Quartet Principles; and if he will make a statement; [R]
	(3)  what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to press Hamas to accept the Quartet Principles and join the negotiations between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Alistair Burt: As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has said publically, there is an urgent need for peace in the middle east. We hope that the announcement of reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas will advance that cause. To do so we expect to see a government that rejects violence and pursues a negotiated peace. President Abbas reaffirmed his commitment to those principles in Cairo. But the government has yet to be formed. When it is we will judge it by its actions and its commitment to non violence and working for peace.

Middle East: Politics and Government

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of comments by the leadership of Hamas on the attitude of the interim Palestinian government towards seeking peace with Israel; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Alistair Burt: The agreement was signed at a ceremony in Cairo on 4 May 2011, attended by President Abbas for the Palestinian Authority, Khaled Mishaal for Hamas and the Egyptian Foreign Minister, el Araby. A representative from our embassy in Cairo attended as an observer, along with key EU partners.
	The Prime Minister met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 4 May 2011 and discussed the announcement on Palestinian unity. We renew our calls on both sides to commit to peace talks, leading to a Palestinian state that exists in peace and security alongside Israel. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has been clear that Britain hopes that the announcement of reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas will lead to the formation of a government that rejects violence and pursues a negotiated peace, and we will judge a future Palestinian government by its actions and its readiness to work for peace.
	We will continue to monitor and discuss with the Palestinian Authority, Arab League and US via our embassies.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to address the humanitarian needs of Yemen;
	(2)  what support he is providing to the UN-administered Yemen humanitarian response plan.

Andrew Mitchell: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) is finalising a contribution to UNICEF and the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in support of the 2011 UN Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan. I will announce further details of this support shortly.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much aid the UK provided to Yemen in the latest period for which figures are available.

Andrew Mitchell: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for International Development disbursed over £47 million of official development assistance through our bilateral country programme in the 2010-11 financial year.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the alcohol industry on the alcohol content of their products.

Anne Milton: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department of Health is in regular contact with a wide range of industry interests to discuss both the alcoholic content of specific products and alcoholic drinks more generally.
	Most recently the Department of Health has been talking to industry within the context of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, which was launched on 15 March 2011. Among other things, we are looking at commitments from industry to foster a culture of responsible drinking, which will help people to drink within recommended limits. We will be publishing regular progress reports on this work, and other Alcohol Network workstreams, on the Department of Health's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Publichealthresponsibilitydeal/index.htm

Asylum

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-asylum cases were granted settlement outside the immigration rules in each year since 1997.

Damian Green: The available information is given in the following table. It shows the number of people granted indefinite leave (settlement) outside the immigration rules, 2004 to 2010, either:
	in non-asylum and non-protection cases where someone qualifies under one of the immigration policy concessions (indefinite leave outside the rules-concession); or
	for other reasons (indefinite leave outside the rules-no concession).
	The data provided for “other reasons” include asylum as well as non-asylum cases from 2007 as from that year they include persons granted indefinite leave outside the immigration rules under measures aimed at clearing the backlog of unresolved cases.
	It is not possible to determine how many grants of “indefinite leave outside the immigration rules for other reasons” relate to non-asylum cases or to provide corresponding information prior to 2004 without detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Grants of settlement  (1, 2, 3 )  by selected outcome, excluding EEA and Swiss nationals  (4)  , 2005  -  10  (5) 
			 Number of persons 
			 Recorded outcome 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009  (6) 2010  (6) 
			 Indefinite leave outside the rules—concession 10 5 10 70 610 1,330 1,155 
			 Indefinite leave outside the rules—no concession(7) 5 25 20 13,655 23,395 30,690 74,380 
			 (1) Includes reconsideration cases and the outcome of appeals.  (2) May include a small number of cases in which a decision is recorded twice, where an individual has dual nationality.  (3) Includes dependants.  (4) Nationals of EU accession countries are included or excluded according to their accession date.  (5) Figures rounded to the nearest 5 ( - = 0, * = 1 or 2).  (6 )Provisional figures.  (7) Data from 2007 onwards include asylum as well as non-asylum cases as from that year they include persons granted indefinite leave outside the immigration rules under measures aimed at clearing the backlog of outstanding unresolved cases.

Asylum: Housing

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place to ensure that housing provided to asylum seekers meets the needs of its tenants.

Damian Green: Accommodation for asylum seekers is provided on behalf of the UK Border Agency by both private and public sector providers. Accommodation is designed to be safe and habitable and each contract contains a “Statement of Requirements” that dictate the minimum standards expected from each provider. UK Border Agency regional contract compliance teams regularly undertake audits of contract compliance and perform physical property inspections to ensure standards are maintained.
	Accommodation providers are committed to providing such standards and if failures occur a number of measures are taken including financial penalties in the form of service credits and ultimately termination of contracts where there is evidence of persistent failures.
	A copy of the “Statement of Requirements” is available from the House Library.

Crime: Foreign Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed by nationals of other EU member states in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Herbert: No estimates have been made centrally. The Home Office has two sources of crime statistics, namely the British Crime Survey and the police recorded crime statistics. However, neither source collects any information on the nationality of the alleged offenders.

Criminal Records: Disclosure of Information

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans her Department has to implement the recommendations of the Mason Review of criminal record disclosures to remove old and minor conviction information from criminal records checks.

Lynne Featherstone: Careful consideration is being given to the extent to which this recommendation should be implemented and to the appropriate route for doing so. A full response to all Mrs Mason's recommendations will be made once she has completed phase two of her independent review of the criminal records regime, which is expected to be by the end of June 2011.
	The Green Paper ‘Breaking the Cycle: effective punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing of offenders’ referred to the possibility of filtering old and minor convictions so that they need not be disclosed under criminal records checks. A formal Government response to that consultation paper will be issued shortly.

Detainees: Telephone Calls

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what comparison the UK Border Agency has made of the cost of calling cards for the new telephone system for detainees with the price of commercially available calling cards;
	(2)  who will be responsible for the payment for calling cards for the new telephone system for detainees.

Damian Green: As part of its contract with the UK Border Agency to operate Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre, G4S is required to provide detainees with a telephone system that enables them to communicate with relatives and representatives.
	G4S commenced a trial mobile phone system in February 2011 to address concerns about poor signal coverage from the existing DECT phone network and other mobile networks. It will be evaluated at the end of May 2011. G4S has had to provide substantive evidence to the UK Border Agency that any charges associated with the use of this system are broadly comparable to those charged by the main networks.
	On arrival at Tinsley House each detainee is provided with a number of free minutes to ensure they have a means of making telephone calls. Subsequent costs for making calls are charged to each detainee via a personal account on a per second basis.

Departmental Refreshments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on (a) bottled water and (b) coffee in each month of the last five years.

Damian Green: Data for the Home Department, inclusive of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), for the period prior to financial year 2010-11 can be made available only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Period 1 April 2010 to 28 February 2011 
			 £ 
			  (a) bottled water (b) coffee 
			 Home Department (including UKBA and CRB) 25,000 745

Driving Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were fined for speeding in England and Wales in each year since 2008 in each police force area.

James Brokenshire: There were 1.1 million fixed penalty notices issued by the 43 police forces of England and Wales for speeding in 2009 and 1.2 million issued in 2008.
	A breakdown by police force area for 2009 can be found on page 67, table 3.01, column 16 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Police Powers and Procedures 2009/10”. The publication is available in the Library of the House and at the following weblink:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb0711/
	A breakdown by police force area for 2008 can be found on page 54, table 3.01, column 16 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Police Powers and Procedures 2008/09”. The publication is available in the Library of the House and at the following weblink:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb0610.pdf
	Data for 2010 are due to be published in April 2012.

Marriage of Convenience: Arrests

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2011, Official Report, columns 673-4W, on Operation Gomozia, how many arrests have been made of non-EU nationals who had been granted leave to remain.

Damian Green: Two non-EU nationals who had been granted leave to remain have been arrested. A further five who had not been granted leave to remain have also been arrested, together with 14 EU nationals. The UK Border Agency is still investigating the Operation Gomozia cases and anyone who has gained leave as a result of this scam will have that leave revoked and face removal from the UK.

Offences Against Children

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pornographic images of children were removed from the internet following investigations by (a) police forces and (b) her Department's agencies in each year since 2000.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is not held centrally.

Overseas Students: Visas

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has held with interested parties on tier 4 student visas.

Damian Green: The Secretary of State has had a number of discussions with various interested parties relating to tier 4, including the Russell Group, and a number of vice-chancellors of prominent universities. I have also had recent discussions about tier 4 with the Russell Group and vice-chancellors, as well as other interested parties including the Association of Colleges, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and various Members of Parliament.

Police

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the (a) Gay Police Association, (b) National Black Police Association and (c) Christian Police Association received from her Department in each year since 2008.

Nick Herbert: The following table shows the grant funding paid to each of the named staff associations in the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 financial years.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Gay Police Association 100,000.00 100,000.00 38,848.50 
			 National Black Police Association 0 0 0 
			 Christian Police Association 0 10,000.00 0

Police

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of (a) police community support officers and (b) police officers in each police force area were identified as members of each ethnic group in each police force area in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Herbert: Figures relating to 31 March 2010 are shown in the following tables:
	
		
			 Table 1: Police community support officer ethnicity  (1)   by police force area as at 31 March 2010 
			 Percentage 
			 Police force White Mixed Black or Black British Asian or Asian British Chinese or Other ethnic group Not stated 
			 Avon and Somerset 95 1 1 1 0 2 
			 Bedfordshire 89 3 3 5 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 89 2 1 6 1 0 
			 Cheshire 97 0 1 0 0 1 
			 Cleveland 98 0 0 2 0 0 
			 Cumbria 100 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 96 1 2 2 0 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 78 1 1 0 0 21 
			 Dorset 98 1 0 0 1 1 
			 Durham 99 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 97 1 1 0 0 1 
			 Gloucestershire 92 2 1 2 2 1 
			 Greater Manchester 93 1 2 4 1 0 
			 Hampshire 99 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Hertfordshire 95 1 1 2 0 1 
			 Humberside 98 1 1 0 0 0 
			 Kent 96 2 0 2 0 0 
			 Lancashire 97 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Leicestershire 88 1 0 11 0 0 
			 Lincolnshire 98 0 1 1 0 0 
			 London, City of 81 4 2 13 0 0 
			 Merseyside 97 2 1 0 0 0 
			 Metropolitan Police 70 4 10 11 4 1 
			 Norfolk 98 1 0 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 94 4 1 1 0 0 
			 Northumbria 99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 99 0 1 0 0 1 
			 Nottinghamshire 97 1 1 1 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 95 2 1 2 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 95 1 0 3 0 0 
			 Suffolk 99 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Surrey 95 1 1 3 0 0 
			 Sussex 96 1 0 0 1 1 
			 Thames Valley 94 2 1 3 0 1 
			 Warwickshire 96 1 1 1 0 1 
			 West Mercia 96 0 0 2 1 1 
		
	
	
		
			 West Midlands 87 3 2 8 0 0 
			 West Yorkshire 95 0 1 4 0 0 
			 Wiltshire 98 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 99 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 98 0 1 1 0 0 
			 North Wales 98 0 0 1 1 0 
			 South Wales 99 0 0 1 0 1 
			 (1) Percentage figures based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Police officer ethnicity  (1)   by police force area as at 31 March 2010 
			 Percentage 
			 Police force White Mixed Black or Black British Asian or Asian British Chinese or Other ethnic group Not stated 
			 Avon and Somerset 98 1 1 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 92 2 1 3 0 2 
			 Cambridgeshire 97 1 0 1 0 1 
			 Cheshire 98 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Cleveland 96 0 0 1 0 2 
			 Cumbria 99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 97 1 0 2 0 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 89 0 0 0 0 10 
			 Dorset 99 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Durham 98 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Essex 97 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Gloucestershire 97 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Greater Manchester 95 2 1 2 0 0 
			 Hampshire 91 1 0 1 0 7 
			 Hertfordshire 96 1 1 2 0 0 
			 Humberside 99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 97 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Lancashire 88 1 0 2 0 9 
			 Leicestershire 92 2 1 4 0 1 
			 Lincolnshire 99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 London, City of 94 2 2 2 0 0 
			 Merseyside 97 2 0 0 1 0 
			 Metropolitan Police 90 2 3 3 1 0 
			 Norfolk 98 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Northamptonshire 89 1 2 1 0 7 
			 Northumbria 98 1 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 99 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 96 1 1 2 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 96 1 1 1 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 98 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Suffolk 97 2 0 0 0 1 
			 Surrey 95 1 0 1 0 2 
			 Sussex 97 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Thames Valley 93 2 1 2 0 2 
			 Warwickshire 94 1 0 3 0 1 
			 West Mercia 98 0 0 1 0 0 
			 West Midlands 92 2 1 5 0 0 
			 West Yorkshire 95 1 1 3 0 0 
			 Wiltshire 98 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed-Powys 99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 98 1 0 0 0 0 
			 North Wales 99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Wales 89 1 0 0 0 9 
			 (1) Percentage figures based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.

Police

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to make a decision on implementation of the recommendations of the (a) Hutton and (b) Winsor reports in respect of police services; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has referred those recommendations of Tom Winsor's first report that call for changes in the short-term to remuneration and conditions of service in England and Wales to the appropriate bodies to consider. She has directed the negotiating machinery for police officers to complete their consideration by 26 July 2011 and will consider their recommendations carefully, in line with her statutory obligations.
	As the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Budget statement of 23 March 2011, the Government accept Lord Hutton's recommendations as a basis for consultation. The Government will set out proposals in the autumn that are affordable, sustainable, and fair to both the public sector work force and the taxpayer. The Government recognise that the position of the uniformed services, including the police, will require particularly careful consideration. Any changes to police pensions would be subject to the usual consultation processes with the Police Negotiating Board.

Police

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place for the approval of police forces exchanging undercover police officers with police forces in other countries.

James Brokenshire: Authorisations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (“RIPA”) may be given for the deployment of covert human intelligence sources such as police undercover officers both inside and outside the UK. Members of foreign law enforcement agencies acting as undercover officers may also be authorised under RIPA in support of domestic and international investigations. Authorisations under RIPA require that covert actions are carried out in a way that is necessary and proportionate with regard to human rights, particularly the right to privacy.

Police: Bureaucracy

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date she last met Jan Berry to discuss recommendations for reducing the burden of administration on police forces.

Nick Herbert: Jan Berry was appointed as the Independent Reducing Bureaucracy Advocate by the previous Government in October 2008 and her role concluded in October 2010. The current Home Secretary has not met Jan Berry but I have met with her on a number of occasions.
	This Government set up a Reducing Bureaucracy Programme Board with key policing partners in October 2010 to take forward the reducing bureaucracy work. We have already scrapped the national requirement for the Stop and Account form and reduced the reporting requirements for Stop and Search. We are also returning certain charging decisions to the police and establishing a more proportionate approach to inspections.

Police: Manpower

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of national police recruitment campaigns in each budgetary category was in each police force area in each of the last five years; and what resources her Department allocated to such campaigning in each such year.

Nick Herbert: Responsibility for police recruitment passed from the Home Office to the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and individual forces in 2007 and details of the costs of recruitment campaigns to individual forces are not collected centrally.
	The last national recruitment campaign took place in 2006 and was therefore funded by the Home Office from the Department's central marketing budget. The details of this are as follows:
	
		
			 2006-07 
			  Amount spent (£) 
			 PCSO recruitment 3,418,115.75 
			 Police officer recruitment 2,848.00

Police: Manpower

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications to join the force each police force received in each year since 1997; and how many officers were recruited in each such year.

Nick Herbert: The requested data on applications have been collected since 2002-03 and where available are given in table 1. The data provided here are management information and as such it is important to note that they are provisional and have not been subjected to the usual quality assurance practices.
	The requested data on recruits have been collected since 2002-03 and are given in table 2.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number  (1)   of formal application forms  (2)   received by police forces from 2002-03 to 2009-10 
			  2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Avon and Somerset 916 446 (3)— 2,121 2,062 (3)— (3)— 2054 
			 Bedfordshire 1,940 (3)— 635 42 (3)— 456 285 299 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,511 (3)— (3)— 783 (3)— 21 (3)— 255 
			 Cheshire 4,532 (3)— 779 (3)— 1,666 165 580 425 
			 Cleveland 1,464 (3)— 113 (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Cumbria 1,085 767 105 226 243 431 491 (3)— 
			 Derbyshire 2,884 753 113 4 (3)— 1,310 (3)— (3)— 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3,614 1,203 1,366 1,397 (3)— 463 826 (3)— 
			 Dorset 1,224 (3)— (3)— (3)— 358 (3)— (3)— (3)— 
		
	
	
		
			 Durham 1,343 (3)— (3)— 2,019 (3)— (3)— 403 (3)— 
			 Dyfed-Powys 859 366 (3)— 897 (3)— (3)— 781 (3)— 
			 Essex 2,282 2,127 571 925 (3)— 1,262 1,437 (3)— 
			 Gloucestershire 1,062 245 795 963 (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Greater Manchester (3)— 3,642 200 (3)— (3)— 4,972 2,602 1,934 
			 Gwent 1,493 1,005 (3)— 918 931 1,031 (3)— 1,761 
			 Hampshire 5,820 1,349 (3)— 1,949 1,766 1,968 (3)— (3)— 
			 Hertfordshire 1,992 1,224 333 1,103 679 659 1098 (3)— 
			 Humberside 1,349 1,519 (3)— 996 (3)— 441 (3)— (3)— 
			 Kent 3,027 (3)— 1,401 1,347 (3)— 2,521 1,272 (3)— 
			 Lancashire (3)— 1,961 984 2,742 (3)— 4,370 1,832 (3)— 
			 Leicestershire 1,421 1,249 (3)— 295 (3)— 435 640 38 
			 Lincolnshire 1,289 (3)— 284 333 (3)— 1,020 469 976 
			 London, City of 594 449 (3)— 415 (3)— 850 (3)— (3)— 
			 Merseyside 3,190 1,331 3,137 (3)— 1,729 550 2,232 3,375 
			 Metropolitan Police (3)— 4,065 1,160 3,444 1,460 5,498 11,566 2,591 
			 Norfolk 1,206 (3)— 674 854 (3)— (3)— 785 415 
			 Northamptonshire 283 384 451 522 273 749 589 397 
			 Northumbria 3,349 1,074 1,941 1,301 (3)— 2,590 2,615 223 
			 North Wales 2,219 1,234 1,482 705 (3)— 346 568 363 
			 North Yorkshire (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,770 1,104 1,176 (3)— 445 279 566 331 
			 South Wales 724 2,204 (3)— 1,814 1,102 (3)— 2,895 (3)— 
			 South Yorkshire 1,300 1,235 807 366 721 893 (3)— 733 
			 Staffordshire 2,043 (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 351 (3)— 
			 Suffolk 1,352 890 442 1,115 (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Surrey 2,345 (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 32 785 
			 Sussex 1,051 (3)— 1,190 520 (3)— 936 (3)— 318 
			 Thames Valley 3,907 2,077 (3)— (3)— (3)— 0 1,938 (3)— 
			 Warwickshire 651 229 572 468 (3)— (3)— 482 (3)— 
			 West Mercia 3,440 1,959 278 78 (3)— 1,005 924 14 
			 West Midlands (3)— (3)— (3)— 3,431 (3)— 3,451 739 299 
			 West Yorkshire 4,087 2,704 2,939 769 1,434 2,149 1,810 (3)— 
			 Wiltshire 1,183 432 499 (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 (1) Provisional management information data collected for planning purposes only. Data have not undergone usual quality assurance practices (including validation with individual police forces) and are therefore supplied for information purposes only. (2) Does not include informal expressions of interest. Some forces did not send out and receive paper application packs when they could instead receive electronic applications via the www.policecouldyou.co.uk website. Where forces have received application packs from other means it is not always possible to separately identify the number of paper application packs received, and in such cases forces have been instructed to return a zero response. (3 )Data not available (or may be zero). Force was not able to supply data at the time of collection. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Police officer recruits  (1)   (FTE)  (2)   to police forces from 2002-03 to 2009-10 
			  2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Avon and Somerset 40 198 93 123 90 153 67 74 
			 Bedfordshire 89 178 106 54 45 79 87 65 
			 Cambridgeshire 76 107 99 104 34 66 144 100 
			 Cheshire 141 153 105 121 107 42 91 76 
			 Cleveland 129 138 83 114 79 43 126 52 
			 Cumbria 63 113 51 55 58 41 74 26 
			 Derbyshire 146 146 64 66 84 129 122 48 
			 Devon and Cornwall 138 131 200 255 98 115 145 80 
			 Dorset 72 86 76 102 64 37 35 43 
			 Durham 21 104 79 71 42 21 37 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 7 53 35 54 47 48 47 48 
			 Essex 40 225 276 224 306 238 200 248 
			 Gloucestershire 53 98 60 70 81 76 81 0 
			 Greater Manchester 113 978 233 277 362 426 482 214 
			 Gwent 45 78 102 80 69 61 21 42 
			 Hampshire 267 282 204 244 249 204 81 182 
			 Hertfordshire 202 279 155 173 185 105 149 85 
			 Humberside 56 188 126 93 95 95 0 12 
			 Kent 192 290 193 209 233 149 222 145 
		
	
	
		
			 Lancashire 240 311 148 196 165 182 215 56 
			 Leicestershire 116 245 123 96 85 98 161 31 
			 Lincolnshire 64 44 59 54 66 36 79 15 
			 London, City of 44 52 39 41 30 20 38 49 
			 Merseyside 101 192 389 161 312 200 259 241 
			 Metropolitan Police 2,434 2,971 1,886 1,050 1,249 966 2,010 1,633 
			 Norfolk 71 56 77 55 49 48 180 67 
			 Northamptonshire 45 99 109 115 68 82 90 54 
			 Northumbria 151 197 159 122 87 163 281 149 
			 North Wales 77 66 71 51 44 45 90 49 
			 North Yorkshire 99 82 71 110 85 0 0 96 
			 Nottinghamshire 89 138 138 54 46 47 144 59 
			 South Wales 180 173 118 122 118 54 73 120 
			 South Yorkshire 103 261 205 148 164 92 57 29 
			 Staffordshire 27 123 108 81 95 40 48 42 
			 Suffolk 81 113 37 45 77 15 47 40 
			 Surrey 92 116 130 124 157 121 93 126 
			 Sussex 139 320 229 236 167 221 315 160 
			 Thames Valley 306 479 361 374 219 244 346 297 
			 Warwickshire 57 51 59 69 66 0 16 23 
			 West Mercia 235 88 90 88 110 79 80 53 
			 West Midlands 478 408 476 442 445 497 610 335 
			 West Yorkshire 277 337 566 176 271 352 244 139 
			 Wiltshire 62 120 70 50 28 47 55 18 
			 (1) Recruits included those officers joining as Police Standard Direct Recruits and those who were previously Special Constables. This excludes police officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining. (2 )Full Time Equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.

Police: Redundancy

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Nottinghamshire have been made redundant in the last three months.

Nick Herbert: None, as there is no provision in legislation for making police officers redundant.

Police: Retirement

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detectives have left police forces under rule A19 in 2011.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 9 May 2011
	The requested information is not collected centrally.

Police: Vetting

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which company has been awarded the contract for the proposed biometric vetting scheme for police recruits;
	(2)  whether she has discussed with ministerial colleagues any extension of the proposed biometric vetting scheme for police recruits to other public services or public sector employees;
	(3)  whether DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints taken from police recruits as part of the proposed biometric vetting scheme will be retained following recruitment;
	(4)  whether DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints taken from police recruits as part of the proposed biometric vetting scheme will be stored on (a) the national DNA database and (b) the police elimination database;
	(5)  whether DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints taken from police recruits as part of the proposed biometric vetting scheme will be destroyed or deleted (a) within a fixed time period and (b) on the individual’s departure from the service;
	(6)  whether DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints taken from police recruits as part of the proposed biometric vetting scheme are to be collected before or after job offers have been made;
	(7)  whether DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints taken as part of the proposed biometric vetting scheme from potential police recruits who are unsuccessful are to be treated as volunteer samples and data for the purposes of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;
	(8)  whether DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints taken from police recruits as part of the proposed biometric vetting scheme are to be used for any further searches following recruitment.

James Brokenshire: No decision has been taken on any new scheme for biometric vetting for police recruits. The matter will be considered by a technical working party of the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales.

Stop and Search

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many stops and searches were conducted in each police force area (a) in total and (b) per 1,000 population in each year since 1997; and what proportion of total stops and searches in (i) England and Wales and (ii) each police force area resulted in an arrest in each such year.

Nick Herbert: The requested data are published within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin ‘Police Powers and Procedures’. Current and previous copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House.

Stop and Search: Terrorism

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people had their vehicles stopped and searched under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 in each year since 2006; and how many of those were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of (i) a notifiable offence and (ii) a terrorism-related offence in (A) each police force area and (B) England and Wales.

Nick Herbert: The number of vehicles stopped under section 1 of the said power is published within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin Police Powers and Procedures. Data relating to prosecutions and convictions are published by the Ministry of Justice in its Criminal Statistics publication. It is not possible to identify which prosecutions and convictions were as a result of stop and searches. Current and previous copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House.

Stop and Search: Terrorism

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people had their vehicle stopped and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each year since 2005; and how many of those were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of (i) a notifiable offence and (ii) a terrorism-related offence in (A) each police force area and (B) England and Wales.

Nick Herbert: The information requested is published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Operation of Police Powers under Terrorism Act 2000 and Subsequent Legislation”. Current and previous copies of both annual and quarterly updates are available in the Library of the House.

Visas

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Tier 4 visa holders extended their leave to remain by switching in-country to a Tier 2 (General) visa category in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.

Damian Green: Tier 4 of the points based system was introduced on 31 March 2009. Information on the number of Tier 4 visa holders who have switched to a Tier 2 General visa is as follows:
	
		
			 Tier 4 visa holders switching to Tier 2 General in 2009 and 2010 
			  Number  (1) 
			 2009 15 
			 2010 785 
			 (1) Statistical information is provisional and subject to change. It has been derived from local management information and is not provided under National Statistics protocols.

Visas: Finance

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the cost of visas.

Damian Green: During the last three months the UK Border Agency has received eight representations regarding the costs of visas. These consisted of four MP letters on behalf of their constituents, two Treat Official letters and two parliamentary questions.

JUSTICE

Career Breaks

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff in his Department and its agencies have taken career breaks of (a) three to six months, (b) six to 12 months, (c) one to two years, (d) two to three years and (e) more than three years in each of the last three years; and how many staff were on a career break on the latest date for which figures are available.

Kenneth Clarke: No central records are held by the Ministry on the number of staff on career breaks for specific periods of time. To obtain this information would require an examination of all staff personal files at a disproportionate cost. However, the Ministry does hold records of the number of staff on career breaks on specific dates. For the end of the last three financial years they were as follows:
	
		
			 As at 31 March each year Number 
			 2009 (1)655 
			 2010 (1)587 
			 2011 (1)496 
			 (1) The Department’s total full-time equivalent staff numbers for these three dates were 76,470; 75,010 and 74,820 respectively.

Charter of Fundamental Rights: EU

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Government was represented at the Ninth Meeting of the National Liaison Officers held by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in April 2011.

Kenneth Clarke: Yes. A Ministry of Justice official represented the UK Government at the meeting.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to introduce legislation to implement his policy proposals for reform of civil litigation.

Jonathan Djanogly: “Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson’s Recommendations: The Government Response” was published on 29 March 2011, setting out the way forward on the proposals following full consultation.
	As indicated in the response, changes to the CFA regime requiring primary legislation will follow as soon as parliamentary time allows. Other changes will require amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules or other secondary legislation. Further consultation will follow in due course, as appropriate. It is envisaged that the reforms will be implemented together, once the legislation is enacted, aside from the reversal of Carver v. BAA and increases to recoverable fees for litigants in person which can be taken forward independently more swiftly.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the representations made by defendant insurance companies in response to Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs.

Jonathan Djanogly: Lord Justice Jackson's year-long review of civil litigation funding and costs was an independent review. Representations made to Lord Justice Jackson were referred to in his “Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report”, which was published in January 2010. The annexes to his final report include lists of submissions received during his review and of meetings, seminars and conferences attended.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations (a) he and (b) his Department have received from defendant insurance companies since the publication of Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs.

Jonathan Djanogly: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) on 14 March 2011, Official Report, column 139W.
	I met with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) on 29 July. During the consultation period for Proposals for Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations, I hosted three roundtable discussions with interested parties. The first, on 2 December 2010 aimed to include parties on all sides of the debate; claimant and defendant solicitors, insurers, after the event (ATE) insurers and other interested parties. I then held meetings with a group of claimant practitioners on 18 January 2011, and defendant practitioners, including insurers and the ABI on 19 January 2011.
	The Secretary of State and I have regular meetings with representative bodies, covering a range of issues. The Secretary of State has not held any meetings with insurers or claimant solicitors specifically to discuss the proposed changes to civil litigation funding and costs.
	The Department has received various submissions from defendant insurance companies in relation to the consultation “Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations”.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effects of his proposed reform of civil litigation costs on people who have sustained long-term disabilities necessitating significant on-going care.

Jonathan Djanogly: “Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jacksons Recommendations: The Government Response” was published on 29 March 2011, setting out the way forward on the proposals following full consultation. An updated impact assessment was published alongside this response.

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Public Consultation

David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to hold a public consultation as part of the review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Crispin Blunt: The Government intend to make an announcement before the summer recess.

Domestic Violence: Fixed Penalties

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many penalty notices for disorder have been issued for wasting police time in cases where the accused had previously made an allegation of domestic violence.

Crispin Blunt: In 2009, there were 3,109 penalty notices for disorders issued to persons aged 16 and over for the offence of wasting police time in England and Wales. Data held centrally do not include information about the circumstances behind each case. It is therefore not possible to identify offences where the accused had previously made an allegation of domestic violence.
	Court proceedings data for 2010 are planned for publication on 26 May 2011.

Human Rights Act 1988

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will instruct his legal representatives to intervene on one or more cases in respect of recent judgments in terms of the balance between articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights to take the case to the Supreme Court for a ruling on the interpretation of section 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Kenneth Clarke: The Government have no plans to intervene in any cases concerning the interpretation of section 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Legal Aid

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people resident in (a) Sunderland and (b) the North East received legal aid in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is currently collating data relating to Sunderland and the North East. I will write to the hon. Member once the information has been verified and place a copy in the Library of the House.

Prison Sentences

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many serving prisoners have been in prison for longer than their tariff length; and in which prisons those prisoners are located;
	(2)  for what length of time in addition to the length of their tariff each prisoner serving a sentence in excess of their tariff length has been in custody.

Crispin Blunt: The tariff is the minimum term that a life or other indeterminate sentence prisoner must serve in custody before becoming eligible for consideration for release by the Parole Board.
	As at 17 November 2010, there were 6,316 offenders in custody being held beyond their tariff expiry date. Table 1 shows a breakdown of this total by prison establishment. For a small number of offenders, the current prison establishment was not recorded on the data held centrally. Additionally, some offenders are held in secure hospitals and other secure accommodation.
	Table 2 shows a distribution of the time served beyond tariff expiry date as at 17 November 2010. These figures include all offenders being held in prison and for whom the prison establishment was recorded centrally; they exclude those held in other secure custody or where prison establishment was not recorded on the data held centrally.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Table 1:   Lifers and IPPs in custody beyond their tariff expiry date as at 17 November 2010, by establishment 
			 Establishment Number 
			 Acklington 103 
			 Albany 131 
			 Altcourse 20 
			 Ashfield 3 
			 Ashwell 25 
			 Askham Grange 15 
			 Aylesbury 15 
			 Bedford 1 
			 Belmarsh 5 
			 Birmingham 15 
			 Blantyre House 35 
			 Blundeston 65 
			 Brinsford 2 
			 Bristol 7 
			 Brixton 3 
			 Bronzefield 5 
			 Buckley Hall 42 
			 Bullingdon 64 
			 Bure 88 
			 Camp Hill 40 
			 Cardiff 31 
			 Castington 5 
			 Channings Wood 104 
			 Chelmsford 7 
			 Coldingley 65 
			 Dartmoor 68 
			 Deerbolt 2 
			 Doncaster 7 
			 Dorchester 2 
			 Dovegate 101 
			 Downview 6 
			 Drake Hall 3 
			 Durham 7 
			 East Sutton Park 5 
		
	
	
		
			 Eastwood Park 2 
			 Erlestoke 77 
			 Everthorpe 32 
			 Exeter 1 
			 Featherstone 55 
			 Ford 47 
			 Forest Bank 6 
			 Foston Hall 9 
			 Frankland 172 
			 Full Sutton 113 
			 Garth 123 
			 Gartree 105 
			 Gloucester 8 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill 121 
			 Guys Marsh 54 
			 Haverigg 27 
			 Hewell 46 
			 High Down 11 
			 Highpoint 67 
			 Hollesley Bay 52 
			 Holloway 10 
			 Holme House 24 
			 Hull 34 
			 Huntercombe 4 
			 Kennet 2 
			 Kingston (Portsmouth) 55 
			 Kirkham 110 
			 Kirklevington Grange 43 
			 Lancaster 15 
			 Lancaster Farms 10 
			 Latchmere House 12 
			 Leeds 7 
			 Lewes 13 
			 Leyhill 107 
			 Lincoln 21 
			 Lindholme 80 
			 Littlehey 98 
			 Liverpool 19 
			 Long Lartin 76 
			 Low Newton 17 
			 Lowdham Grange 48 
			 Maidstone 64 
			 Manchester 41 
			 Moorland Closed 32 
			 Moorland Open 31 
			 Mount (The) 70 
			 New Hall 11 
			 North Sea Camp 107 
			 Norwich 23 
			 Nottingham 15 
			 Onley 24 
			 Parc 18 
			 Parkhurst 62 
			 Pentonville 10 
			 Peterborough Female 6 
			 Peterborough Male 9 
			 Portland 2 
			 Preston 12 
			 Ranby 84 
			 Reading 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Risley 195 
			 Rochester 2 
			 Rye Hill 61 
			 Send 27 
			 Sheppey Cluster (Elmley) 47 
			 Sheppey Cluster (Standford Hill) 27 
			 Sheppey Cluster (Swaleside) 155 
			 Shepton Mallet 114 
			 Shrewsbury 4 
			 Stafford 44 
			 Stocken 126 
			 Stoke Heath 3 
			 Styal 11 
			 Sudbury 117 
			 Swaleside 1 
			 Swansea 2 
			 Swinfen Hall 104 
			 Thorn Cross 1 
			 Usk/Prescoed 91 
			 Verne (The) 44 
			 Wakefield 191 
			 Wandsworth 32 
			 Warren Hill 1 
			 Wayland 88 
			 Wealstun 20 
			 Wellingborough 78 
			 Wetherby 2 
			 Whatton 244 
			 Whitemoor 64 
			 Winchester 4 
			 Wolds 73 
			 Woodhill 13 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 8 
			 Wymott 98 
			 Establishment not centrally recorded/other secure custody 571 
			 Total 6,316 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2:   Lifers and IPPs in prison beyond their tariff expiry date as at 17 November 2010, by length of time served past tariff 
			  Number 
			 Less than 6 months 695 
			 6 months to less than 1 years 643 
			 1 year to less than 2 years 1,288 
			 2 years to less than 3 years 975 
			 3 years to less than 5 years 850 
			 5 years to less than 10 years 774 
			 10 years+ 520 
			 Total 5,745

Prisoners

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the provisions of Prison Service Instruction 06/2011 on Prisoner Communications—Correspondence, how many prisoners have been (a) investigated and (b) disciplined for contributing (i) directly or (ii) via a third party to (A) a social networking site or (B) a media publication in each of the last three years.

Crispin Blunt: Any disciplinary action taken against prisoners for contributing directly or indirectly to social networking sites is dealt with and recorded locally at the prison and is not collected centrally. In order to provide these details individual prisoner's records would need to be checked and the information could be only provided at disproportionate cost.
	Prisoners may write to any person or organisation, including media publications, within the rules in Prison Service Instruction 06/2011 Prisoner Communications Correspondence and Prison Service Instruction 37/2010 Prisoner's Access to the Media. A prisoner may have an article published if it conforms to guidance contained in those policies but no records are kept centrally of disciplinary action where breaches of the rules have occurred.

Prisoners’ Release

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prisoners have been released under home detention curfew in error in each year that figures are available;
	(2)  how many prisoners have been released early due to the incorrect calculation of their (a) home detention curfew and (b) early removal scheme eligibility dates.

Crispin Blunt: The following table shows the number of prisoners released on home detention curfew in error, by financial year. These figures cover the period between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2011. There are approximately 12,000 prisoners released on home detention curfew each year and those released in error make up a tiny proportion of these releases.
	
		
			 Table 1: Prisoners released in error on home detention curfew, by financial year 
			  Number 
			 2005-06 1 
			 2006-07 2 
			 2007-08 1 
			 2008-09 1 
			 2009-10 6 
			 2010-11 1 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of prisoners released in error on home detention curfew and early removal scheme as the result of a calculation error. These figures cover the period between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2011.
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of prisoners released early due to incorrect calculation of (a) home detention curfew and (b) early removal scheme, by financial year 
			  Home detention curfew Early removal scheme 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 2006-07 0 0 
			 2007-08 0 0 
			 2008-09 1 0 
			 2009-10 2 0 
			 2010-11 0 0 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
	The number of releases in error may change should further incidents be reported.
	The number of releases in error from prisons generally is very small. All incidents are subject to investigation. The majority of prisoners released in error are returned to custody quickly. They are usually unaware of the error and make no attempt to evade the police.

Prisoners’ Release

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners he estimates will have their release dates recalculated following the issuing of Prison Service Instruction 55/2010 on Sentence Calculation and HDC/ERS Eligibility Dates - Multiple Sentences Comprising Mixtures of the 1991 Act and the 2003 Act Release Provisions; whether additional costs to the public purse will be incurred as a result of any recalculated sentences; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 55/2010 gave effect to a June 2010 Supreme Court judgment that fundamentally changed how the legislation must be applied to prisoners with multiple sentences which are subject to a mixture of release provisions (i.e. under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and Criminal Justice Act 2003). The result has been that some prisoners have been notified of earlier Home Detention Curfew (HDC) and Early Removal Scheme (ERS) eligibility dates, while the impact on others has been later sentence and licence expiry dates. Prisons have reported that the dates for 5,651 prisoners have had to be recalculated. We have estimated that an additional 80 prison places may be required in the longer term as a direct result of implementing the judgment. These can be accommodated within planned provision. There will be some additional costs in extending the supervision period of some offenders but these are expected to be minimal. These recalculations have been necessary in order for the sentences of affected prisoners to remain lawful and in line with the Supreme Court judgment.

Prisoners: Correspondence

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the cost to the public purse was of postage on behalf of prisoners sending (a) statutory letters and (b) special letters in each of the last five years; and what the cost to the public purse was of the postage of letters sent overseas in each such year;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the implementation of Prison Service Instruction 06/2011 on Prisoner Communications - Correspondence in each of the next three years.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service Agency's accounting system does not distinguish details or have separate account codes for expenditure details on postage on behalf of prisoners sending statutory letters, special letters or postage letters sent overseas.
	Prison Service Instruction 06/2011 did not change the allowances or entitlements for prisoners to send or receive letters and therefore the implementation of the new instruction is cost neutral.

Prisoners: Equality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of prisoners with protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010 for each type of protected characteristic in the latest period for which figures are available.

Crispin Blunt: Applying the definitions within the Equality Act 2010, every prisoner has the protected characteristics of age, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. I am unable to estimate the number and proportion of prisoners with any of the remaining protected characteristics as this information is not collected centrally.
	A breakdown of the prison population by age, race, religion or belief, and sex can be found in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics. The most recent annual bulletin can be downloaded from the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/omcs-2009-complete-210710a.pdf

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign national prisoners (a) are held in prison and (b) were so held in May 2010; and what steps he is taking to reduce the number of such prisoners.

Crispin Blunt: Prison population statistics are published quarterly. On 31 March 2010, the foreign national prisoner population stood at 11,367. That figure had declined to 10,745 on 31 March 2011.
	The Ministry of Justice and Home Office are working together to reduce the number of foreign nationals who are in our prisons.
	This includes progression of plans described in the Ministry of Justice Green Paper which will allow for conditional cautions to be available as an alternative to prosecution for some foreign national offenders with the condition being that the individual leaves the UK (we are already piloting this approach with simple cautions) and plans to remove indeterminately sentenced/lifer FNPs at the point of expiry of their tariff.
	A considerable amount of work aimed at reducing the FNP population is already under way. For example, we continue to operate an early removal scheme under which FNPs serving a determinate sentence can be considered for deportation up to 270 days before they would otherwise be eligible for release.
	In addition, we are building on existing prisoner transfer agreements, which enable some foreign national prisoners to serve their sentence in their country of origin. The EU framework decision on prisoner transfer is due to enter into force from December, which will provide for a steady increase in the number of EU nationals transferred to their own country to serve their sentences.
	The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with the Home Office to develop work to manage down overall FNP numbers and, where possible, divert foreign national offenders from the UK and our prison system.

Prisons

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse was of providing activities in prisons in each of the last 10 years; and what the cost to the public purse was of the implementation of Prison Service Instruction 38/2010 on activities in prisons.

Crispin Blunt: Prisons deliver a wide and diverse range of activities. The cost of activities is primarily met through establishment baseline funding and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examining expenditure locally in each establishment, disaggregating and then collating the costs. Prison Service Instruction 38/2010 on activities in prison provided updated instructions to governors on appropriate activities for prisoners. It did not mandate any specific activities or associated costs.

Prisons

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff working in prisons have been (a) investigated on suspicion of, (b) disciplined for and (c) dismissed for providing unauthorised items to prisoners in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: Central information covering formal staff disciplinary proceedings is recorded according to the type of misconduct. There is no specific category for ‘providing unauthorised items to prisoners' and therefore the information requested at (a) and (b) is not held centrally. It could be obtained by manually examining individual records only at a disproportionate cost.
	Records, held since January 2008, show that 32 directly employed and 66 non-directly employed staff working in prisons have been dismissed for offences relating to the conveying unauthorised items in to prisons up to 31 March 2011. Available data do not cover whether such items are actually provided to prisoners. The following table provides a yearly breakdown;
	
		
			 Calendar year Dismissals of prison staff linked to the conveying unauthorised items Exclusions of non directly employed prison staff linked to the conveying of unauthorised items 
			 2008-09 14 22 
			 2009-10 7 23 
			 2010-11 10 13 
			 2011-12 (1)1 (1)8 
			 (1 )To 11 May 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems held by the Corruption Prevention Unit, which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Non directly employed prison staff are employed to work in prisons through a third party such as a local education provider, healthcare trust or other voluntary organisations. These individuals are covered by the NOMS corruption prevention strategy.

Prisons: Drugs

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were reprimanded for bringing prohibited substances into prison in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, (d) 2009 and (e) 2010.

Crispin Blunt: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only by contacting individual prison establishments and by reviewing individual employee personal files at a disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Drugs

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff working in prisons have undergone treatment for substance abuse in each of the last three years; and how many staff were undergoing treatment for substance abuse on the latest date for which figures are available.

Crispin Blunt: Data on the numbers of any staff working in prisons who may have undergone treatment for substance abuse in the last three years are not available to the National Offender Management Service, in any form.
	Substance abuse by staff is not compatible with working in prisons and where this is suspected or identified, appropriate action is taken. Any treatment provided to individual staff members would be through self-referral in the community (either via the employee's own GP or privately). Medical confidentiality applies to personal sensitive data relating to treatment of this sort and as such would remain confidential to the individual member of staff and their healthcare providers and would not be available to NOMS.

Prisons: Equality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost is of implementing Prison Service instruction 32/2011 on ensuring equality in 2011-12.

Crispin Blunt: There should be no extra costs in implementing Prison Service Instruction 32/2011 on ensuring equality. The instruction contains fewer mandatory actions and prescribes less process than the orders and instructions that it replaces. It offers prison establishments the flexibility to allocate resources to equality issues in accordance with local need.

Prisons: Security

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many security breaches occurred in each prison in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: NOMS collects data on security breaches which are defined as any incident involving visitors or outsiders where the security or control of the establishment has been breached, or there has been an attempt to do so. The following table provides details of breaches and attempted breaches of security reported on the incident reporting system from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2011. Figures exclude other specific categories of security-related incident such as drug finds, disorder-related incidents, escapes, key lock incidents and finds of mobile phones.
	
		
			 Table 1: Breaches and attempted breaches of security or control by visitors or outsiders, by financial year, from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2011 
			 Prison name 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Acklington — 1 — — — 
			 Ashfield — — — 1 — 
			 Ashwell — 1 — — — 
			 Askham Grange — — — — 1 
			 Aylesbury 2 1 — — 1 
			 Belmarsh — — — 1 — 
			 Blundeston 2 — — 1 — 
			 Brinsford — 1 — — — 
			 Bristol 3 — — — — 
			 Brixton 4 — — 3 — 
			 Bronzefield 1 2 — — 2 
			 Buckley Hall 2 — l — — 
			 Bullingdon — 1 l 1 1 
			 Bullwood Hall — — 1 — — 
			 Cardiff 1 — — — 1 
			 Chelmsford — 2 — — — 
			 Coldingley 3 — — — — 
			 Cookham Wood — — — 1 — 
			 Doncaster — 1 — — — 
			 Drake Hall — 1 1 — — 
			 Durham 1 2 1 1 — 
			 Edmunds Hill — — — 1 — 
			 Erlestoke 2 1 — — — 
			 Everthorpe 1 1 — — — 
			 Exeter — 1 — 1 — 
			 Feltham 1 — — — — 
			 Ford 1 — 2 — 2 
			 Forest Bank 1 — — — — 
			 Foston Hall — — — 1 — 
			 Frankland — 1 — — — 
			 Full Sutton 1 — — — — 
			 Garth — — — 1 — 
			 Gloucester 4 — 1 — — 
			 Grendon — 1 6 1 — 
			 Guys Marsh 1 1 — — 1 
			 Haslar — — 1 1 — 
			 Haverigg 1 2 — — — 
			 High Down — — 3 — — 
			 Highpoint — 2 2 — 1 
			 Hindley — 3 — 1 — 
			 Hollesley Bay — — 1 — — 
			 Hull 1 — — — — 
			 Kirkham 1 1 — — — 
			 Latchmere House — 1 — — — 
			 Leeds 1 1 — — — 
			 Lewes — 1 1 — — 
			 Leyhill 4 1 — 2 — 
			 Lincoln 1 — 1 — 1 
			 Littlehey — — — — 1 
			 Liverpool — — — 1 — 
			 Lowdham Grange — — — — 1 
			 Manchester — 1 — 5 1 
			 Mount 1 — — — — 
			 New Hall 1 — — — — 
			 Nottingham — — 2 2 — 
			 Onley 1 — 1 — — 
			 Parc 4 8 7 5 — 
			 Pentonville 4 — 1 1 — 
			 Peterborough 20 1 — — 1 
			 Ranby — — — 1 2 
			 Reading — — 1 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Risley 1 — — — — 
			 Rochester — — 1 — — 
			 Rye Hill — — — — 1 
			 Send — — — — 1 
			 Shrewsbury — — — — 1 
			 Stafford — 1 1 — — 
			 Standford Hill — 1 — 1 — 
			 Stoke Heath 1 1 — — — 
			 Styal — — — 1 — 
			 Sudbury 2 2 — — — 
			 Thorn Cross — 4 5 1 4 
			 Usk\Prescoed — — 1 1 1 
			 Wakefield 1 1 — — 1 
			 Wandsworth — 1 — — — 
			 Wealstun — — 1 — — 
			 Wellingborough 2 — — — — 
			 Woodhill — 1 — 1 — 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 1 — 2 4 1 
			 Wymott 1 — — 1 — 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisons: Security

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements are in place for the collection by his Department of reports of prison establishments which have (a) persistent breaches of security and (b) persistent areas of concern arising from the testing of security processes, procedures and equipment.

Crispin Blunt: Governors of individual prisons have the primary responsibility for ensuring that security standards are maintained. This is monitored in a variety of ways including local audit and testing and formal audit of security procedures by the Agency's auditors.
	Reports of serious failures of security are required to be reported to the centre with the most serious failures reported immediately by telephone. Less serious failures are logged locally and will be discussed routinely with the governor's manager and at regular security committee meetings held within each prison. The results of formal security audit reports are published internally and a follow up action plan must be produced by the prison to remedy any deficiencies. High priority recommendations are always followed up with individual prisons and a quarterly report, listing progress on implementation of recommendations, together with any patterns in security failures, is distributed to senior management. A NOMS Audit Committee, chaired by a non-executive director, will consider any underlying patterns, issues and specific areas of concern connected with both security and general matters.

Prisons: Security

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) shotgun cartridges, (b) mobile phones, (c) replica firearms, (d) blank rounds, (e) flick knives, (f) SIM cards, (g) mobile phone chargers, (h) cameras and (i) drugs were kept in each prison establishment for the purposes of testing or training in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many (a) shotgun cartridges, (b) mobile phones, (c) replica firearms, (d) blank rounds, (e) flick knives, (f) SIM cards, (g) mobile phone chargers, (h) cameras and (i) drugs used as training aids in prisons and designated to be stored in the security department or Governor's safe have been reported (i) missing, (ii) stolen or (iii) otherwise unaccountable at each prison establishment in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: Data relating to the number of items held in prisons for training or testing purposes are not held centrally. In order to provide this information, it would be necessary to contact each prison individually, which could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	The loss or theft of official items, including bladed items, mobile phones, chargers and SIM cards is reported under the miscellaneous category on the Prison Service Incident Reporting System. The loss or theft of drugs used for training aids are recorded under a separate drugs category. Any incident relating to firearms and ammunition, including the loss or theft of items used for training would be held under a separate firearms category.
	These incidents are held in a format that cannot readily be interrogated electronically. To provide the information requested would involve the manual inspection of more than 79,000 incident records for the five financial years involved which could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Standards

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners he estimates are affected by bedding standards in respect of fire retardancy set out in Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 22/2011; and what the cost to the public purse was of complying with the requirements of PSI 22/2011 in the latest year for which figures are available.

Crispin Blunt: The fire retardancy standards set out in Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 22/2011 apply to all bedding and furnishings used by prisoners.
	PSI 22/2011 has had no impact on the standard or cost of bedding officially issued to prisoners as these items already meet the fire retardancy standards specified.
	The main purpose of the PSI is to introduce equivalent standards for bedding and furnishing items purchased by some prisoners using their own funds. Therefore there is no additional cost to the public purse.

Public Expenditure

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department plans to cease to fund any of its functions over the period of the comprehensive spending review.

Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry’s function is to deliver a justice system that will punish the guilty, protect our liberties and the independence of the judiciary, and reduce the rate of reoffending by offenders. The Ministry will deliver these objectives throughout the period of the spending review.
	I have developed plans that will enable the Ministry of Justice to deliver savings across the spending review period while continuing to deliver the Ministry’s services. These savings are a combination of administrative efficiencies, front-line efficiencies and policy reforms.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what definition of affordable housing his Department uses.

Grant Shapps: The definition of affordable housing for planning purposes is set out in annex B of planning policy statement 3: Planning for Housing. My Department has recently consulted on a technical change to annex B of planning policy statement 3. The consultation finished on 11 April and we intend to publish the Government response shortly.

Affordable Housing: Disability

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much funding from the public purse he allocated to the HOLD scheme in the last 12 months;
	(2)  if he will estimate the number of completions under the HOLD scheme in (a) London and (b) the London borough of Newham in the next 12 months.

Grant Shapps: Home Ownership for people with Long-Term Disabilities (HOLD) helps people whose housing needs cannot be met through the Government's mainstream new build affordable home ownership programme, due to the need to live in a specific location. The scheme enables them to select a property on the open market suitable to their needs, and purchase on shared ownership terms with a housing association.
	My Department, through the Homes and Communities Agency, provides capital funding to housing providers to help them buy properties under HOLD. Registered housing providers can bid for funding from the Affordable Homes programme.
	In 2010-11, the Homes and Communities Agency provided £5.7 million to registered providers for the HOLD scheme.
	HOLD is a demand-led scheme and therefore we have not made an assessment of the number of likely completions in London or the London borough of Newham. As announced in the spending review, we are investing £4.5 billion to deliver 150,000 affordable homes between 2011-12 to 2014-15. This will include support for the provision of shared ownership and the HOLD scheme where this has the support of the local authority.

Council Tax Benefits

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has for the operation of the localised council tax benefit.

Bob Neill: The Government are committed to retaining council tax support for the most vulnerable in society and will be taking forward plans for councils to develop local rebate schemes. The detail of these plans will be developed following full consultation on the new system for local council tax rebate schemes in England, which will be undertaken in due course, led by my Department.
	This reform will create stronger incentives for councils to get people back into work and so support the positive work incentives that will be introduced through the Government's plans on universal credit. Combined with other incentives—such as the New Homes Bonus and our proposals for the local retention of business rates—these changes will give councils a greater stake in the economic future of their local area, so supporting the Government's wider agenda to enable stronger, balanced economic growth across the country.

Council Tax Benefits

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what equality impact assessment he plans to undertake on his proposed changes to council tax benefit.

Bob Neill: In the development of the plans for local rebate schemes in England, the Department will comply fully with the relevant requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and is committed to retaining council tax support for the most vulnerable in society.

Departmental Responsibilities

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department plans to cease to fund any of its functions over the period of the comprehensive spending review.

Bob Neill: In terms of my Department's plans to cease any of its functions, four of the Department's arm’s length bodies have already been closed and a programme of reform is in place which will see another 12 either closed or their functions transferred by 2012.
	For details on estimated savings costs attached to this I refer the hon. Member to the departmental press notice of 16 March 2011, which can be found at the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1865652
	Most of the functions of the Government offices for the regions have been discontinued: a limited number of residual functions have been transferred to Departments, including this Department.

Housing: Learning Disability

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to provide new housing stock for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stunell: We are investing £4.5 billion over the next four years to deliver up to 150,000 new affordable homes in England. We are giving housing associations much more flexibility on rents and use of assets, so our aspiration is to deliver as many homes as possible through our investment and reforms.
	As part of the Affordable Homes Programme, the Homes and Communities Agency is positively encouraging new supply of supported housing which would include housing for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. They will focus on ensuring that local authorities are able to shape the Affordable Homes Programme to respond to the housing needs of their communities. Affordable housing for vulnerable people can also be met through a variety of methods including floating support services which provides housing-related support to vulnerable adults to enable them to maintain their independence in their own home.

Housing: Standards

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to review the operational and enforcement guidance for the housing, health and safety rating system in the light of the recent decision by the Residential Property Service Tribunal in the case of Mr A H Kassim.

Andrew Stunell: There are no plans to review the operational and enforcement guidance for the Housing Health and Safety Rating System in light of the recent decision by the Residential Property Tribunal in the case of Mr A H Kassim.
	The Residential Property Tribunal in the case of Mr A H Kassim concluded that there is no requirement under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System guidance that space heating should be affordable.
	It is the view of the Department that the relative cost of operating a heating system is relevant to a Housing Health and Safety Rating System assessment. The operating guidance, page 27, sets this out under the heading ‘Thermal Efficiency’:
	The dwelling should be provided with adequate thermal insulation and a suitable and effective means of space heating so that the space can be economically maintained at reasonable temperatures.
	Residential Property Tribunal cases are independent of the Department for Communities and Local Government and as the decision was based on the specific circumstances of the case it does not create a binding legal precedent.

Local Government

Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to announce the conclusions of his review of statutory duties placed on local government.

Bob Neill: The invitation to respond has now closed and we have received a high volume of responses—over 5,500. The review is as much about ensuring vital duties are retained as it is about removing unnecessary burdens.
	The next step will be for the Department to analyse and review the representations. Any future work on whether to remove duties or associated guidance that only serve to create overly bureaucratic burdens on councils will be a separate process, and we will consult further where necessary.
	We will continue to keep the House informed of progress.

Regional Planning and Development

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department is providing to private sector organisations on the abolition of regional spatial strategies.

Greg Clark: The Government set out information on the implications of their intention to abolish regional strategies in the Chief Planner's letter of 10 November 2010 to local authorities, and further in a press release issued on 7 February 2011. Both documents are available on the Department's website and private sector organisations can have regard to them. These documents make clear that pending abolition of regional strategies all planning decisions must be made in accordance with the “development plan”, including regional strategies, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The Government's intention to abolish regional strategies is a material consideration.

Rented Housing: Private Sector

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what data his Department collects on the activities of unscrupulous landlords in the private rented sector.

Andrew Stunell: The English Housing Survey and the linked Private Landlords Survey both contain extensive data about privately rented housing stock and private landlords. The most recent iterations of both surveys are due to be published in the summer.

Rented Housing: Private Sector

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has any plans to bring forward legislation to tackle unscrupulous landlords.

Andrew Stunell: The current legislative framework already contains robust measures by which tenants can be protected from landlord abuses. The Government keeps the relevant legislation under constant review but has no plans for any immediate changes.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reason the Planning Inspectorate held a Gypsy and Traveller workshop in November 2009; who attended the workshop; what matters were discussed at the workshop; and what the outcomes were.

Bob Neill: Under the last Administration as part of a two day event, the Planning Inspectorate held a Gypsy and Traveller appeals workshop on Friday 13 November 2009. The aim of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for dialogue between the principal stakeholders engaged in Gypsy and Traveller appeals, to explore ways in which current appeal practice might be improved, for example, to help the smoother running of appeals, as Gypsy and Traveller casework tends to be more complex and can often result in delays and events overrunning. The workshop also addressed current issues and different perspectives. The discussions specifically did not address individual cases nor current or forthcoming appeals, being restricted to generic matters.
	The matters discussed through round table discussions, were Gypsy status and consistency on application and acceptance of Gypsy status; Development Plan Matters; Procedural Matters and Personal Circumstances (eg confidentiality and sensitivity of personal data and educational and health needs).
	The workshop was attended by around 50 inspectors and staff from the Planning Inspectorate and representatives from parties involved in appeals, namely a number of planning consultancies: (Anderson Planning and Dev Ltd, Green Planning Solutions, Heine Planning Consultancy, Philip Brown Associates), various legal chambers (Garden Court Chambers, 10 King's Bench Chambers, 2-3 Gray's Inn Square, Radcliffe Chambers, 1 Pump Court Chambers, Francis Taylor Buildings), a number of local authorities (Basildon, Brentwood, Bromley, Central Bedfordshire, Maidstone, Mendip, Sevenoaks, South Gloucestershire, South Somerset, and Wychavon) and DCLG. Participants were invited based on the amount of relevant casework they were involved in.
	Since the workshop the Planning Inspectorate has made some minor procedural amendments, for example changes to durations, for gypsy and traveller cases. It has also trialled the use of a pre-inquiry or hearing note in some cases, but this has not been limited to just Gypsy and Traveller casework.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) workshops and (b) meetings were held by the Planning Inspectorate with representatives of Gypsy and Traveller groups in each of the last five years; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each document associated with such workshops and meetings.

Bob Neill: The Planning Inspectorate has a record of two events involving representatives of the Gypsy and Traveller community within the last five years. Both took place under the last Administration.
	On 12 November 2009, the Planning Inspectorate held a training event for inspectors specialising in Gypsy and Traveller casework. As part of the training, external stakeholders were invited to deliver presentations to the inspectors. These speakers included Siobhan Spencer, from the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group, who delivered a presentation on Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group, Gypsy culture and planning issues for Gypsy groups and answered questions from inspectors. A copy of this presentation has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The Planning Inspectorate’s Enforcement Procedural staff also met with Matthew Green of Green Planning Solutions on 24 February 2009 to discuss general planning, programming and procedural matters on cases as well as changes arising from the Planning Act 2008. No notes were made of this meeting.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what advice he received in advance of deciding not to proceed with option 2 of the planning for Traveller sites consultation;
	(2)  with reference to the publication of his planning for Traveller sites consultation, if he will consider the merits of withdrawing planning circulars 01/2006 and 04/2007 and (a) not replacing them and (b) incorporating policies for Traveller and Gypsy planning into general planning guidance.

Bob Neill: The Government recently published a consultation on their proposed planning policy for Traveller sites.
	As Government do routinely with all policy development, we sought advice from officials and lawyers and considered views from a range of parties while writing our new planning policy. As this is a consultation, hon. Members are welcome to submit their views on these issues including the merits or demerits of the various options.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions his Department had with (a) the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and (b) representatives from Gypsy and Traveller groups in advance of the publication of the planning for Traveller sites consultation.

Bob Neill: As is routinely the case with all policy development, the Department has had discussions with people with an interest in its policy matters. This has included speaking to a range of representatives of Traveller groups. The Department also has regular meetings with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission on a variety of matters and these have included discussion of Traveller site provision, planning policy and planning enforcement in relation to Traveller sites and poor social outcomes for Travellers.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning appeals involving Gypsy and Traveller sites have been (a) upheld and (b) refused by the Planning Inspectorate in each of the last five years.

Bob Neill: The total number of planning appeals, the number upheld and dismissed for each of the last five calendar years is detailed as follows.
	
		
			 Calendar year Total decisions Allowed Percentage Dismissed Percentage 
			 2006 106 71 67 35 33 
			 2007 131 84 64 47 36 
			 2008 100 52 52 48 48 
			 2009 128 71 55 57 45 
			 2010 84 51 61 32 39

HEALTH

Cancer: Drugs

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to improve access to drugs subject to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence funding for cancer patients in the NHS.

Simon Burns: Primary care trusts are legally obliged to fund drugs and treatments recommended in National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence technology appraisal guidance, within three months of guidance being published, unless the requirement is waived in a specific case.
	We made an additional £50 million available to strategic health authorities in 2010-11 which has already helped over 2,000 patients to access the cancer drugs their clinicians recommended. In addition, we launched the Cancer Drugs Fund in April 2011, which makes £200 million available per year for the next three years to help thousands more cancer patients access the drugs their clinicians believe will help them.

Care Homes

Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support and advice his Department gives to people who wish to plan for self-funded care in later life; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Local authorities have a duty to provide a needs assessment for everyone who requests one—whether supported by a council or their own funds—and, as part of this process, to sign-post them to the information and advice they need.
	The Government recognise that more can be done to help self-funders plan and prepare for the care costs that they may face in later life. We have set up the Commission on Funding of Care and Support and, in its terms of reference, have asked that it provides recommendations on ‘how people could choose to protect their assets, especially their homes, against the cost of care'.
	We have asked the commission to report in July 2011, and will respond to its recommendations in a White Paper by the end of the year.

Clostridium Difficile

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients contracted C. difficile while in hospital in Havering in the last five years.

Simon Burns: The information is not collected in the format requested.
	The figures presented are the ‘trust apportioned number’ referring to infections that are presumed to be to be acquired in that trust during that visit. Data apportioned to trust are only available from 2007 onwards for Clostridium difficile infection episodes.
	Cases are trust apportioned if the location of the patient when the specimen was taken was reported as an acute hospital ‘in-patient’, ‘day patient’ or ‘Emergency assessment patient’ and the specimen date was on, or after, the fourth day of the admission where day of admission is equal to day one.
	These data only show the number of reported C. difficile infections in patients aged two years and over, this does not reflect the number of different patients as one patient may have had more than one episode of infection reported. These data are reported by the acute trust.
	
		
			 Number of trust apportioned cases of infections caused by C. difficile in patients aged two years and over—Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 April to March each year Number 
			 2007-08 143 
			 2008-09 121 
			 2009-10- 81 
			 2010-11(1) 111 
			 (1) Figure is derived from monthly published data

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to protect the blood supply from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Anne Milton: The following precautionary measures have been implemented to protect the blood supply and products made by fractionating plasma:
	From December 1997, blood components, plasma products or tissues obtained from any individual who later develops variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), have been withdrawn/recalled to prevent their use;
	From October 1999, white blood cells (which may carry a risk of transmitting vCJD) have been reduced in all blood used for transfusion, a process known as leucodepletion or leucoreduction;
	Following the report of the first possible case of transmission of vCJD by blood transfusion in December 2003, individuals who had themselves received a transfusion of blood components since January 1980 were excluded from donating blood. This took effect from April 2004, and in July 2004, this exclusion criterion for blood donation was extended to include two further groups, who had received transfusions of blood components since 1980:
	Previously transfused platelet donors,
	Donors who were unsure if they had previously had a blood transfusion. This now applies to donors who have been transfused anywhere in the world;
	Since 1999, plasma for the manufacture of fractionated plasma products, such as clotting factors, has been obtained from non-United Kingdom sources;
	Since 2004, fresh frozen plasma for treating babies and young children born on or after 1 January 1996 has been obtained from non-UK sources, and from July 2005 its use was extended to all children up to the age of 16; and
	Cryoprecipitate, for use in the under-16s, is now produced from imported methylene blue treated-plasma.
	All of these measures were recommended or endorsed by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (which first met in January 2008) or its predecessor committees.
	Additionally, considerable effort is being extended to promote appropriate use of blood throughout the national health service, to target blood use to where it is clinically essential, and for bleeding disorder patients (such as haemophiliacs) UK plasma has not been used for the manufacture of clotting factors since 1999 and recombinant clotting factors are now available for all patients for whom they are suitable.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who are considered to be at risk of contracting variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of people carrying the infective prions that cause variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease; and what proportion of such people he estimates are registered as blood donors.

Anne Milton: A study published in 2004 of stored appendix and tonsil tissue samples found abnormal prion protein in three appendices out of 12,674 samples. This suggested a population prevalence of about one in 4,000, though with very wide confidence interval of between one in 1,400 and one in 20,000. A further study of over 96,000 tonsils pairs is nearing completion, and a study of 30,000 appendix samples is due to be completed in 2012. Prevalence estimates are kept under active review by the relevant expert scientific advisory committees, who will review all the evidence on the completion of these ongoing studies.
	In England about 4.4% of the population are blood donors, and the prevalence of potentially infective blood donors remains unknown. Not all of the individuals in the 2004 published study would be of an age eligible to donate blood, nor is it clear whether presence of abnormal prion protein in tissues such as the appendix or tonsils indicates that the blood of such a donor would transmit variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. All precautionary measures are assessed in the context of the fundamental uncertainties about prevalence.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of people diagnosed with variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease.

Anne Milton: Since 1995 175 patients have been identified with definite or probable variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United Kingdom.
	The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Research and Surveillance Unit publishes monthly figures on all cases of human prion disease, including vCJD, on the website at:
	www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/

Dental Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists' surgeries he has visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Simon Burns: In the last 12 months my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has visited one community dental service in an official capacity. My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State, Earl Howe, leads on dentistry within the ministerial team and has visited two dental practices in the last 12 months, one in Worcester and one in London. He has also visited dentists providing oral health promotion services for children provided in a children's centre in Preston.

Departmental Pensions

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be spent on staff pensions in each of the next five years.

Simon Burns: In 2010-11, the Department spent approximately 16% of total staff costs on employers' superannuation contributions. This proportion is unlikely to change much in 2011-12 but it is difficult to make forecasts beyond that timeframe as the Government are considering their response to the review of public sector pensions provision, recently carried out by the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission chaired by Lord Hutton.

Disability: Advocacy

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that local advocacy services meet the needs of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) assess the quality of local advocacy services for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to develop skills and training of advocates for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what steps he is taking to assess the local advocacy needs of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what steps he is taking to ensure that advocacy services for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities are included in individual packages of care; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what steps he is taking to ensure that the interests of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities are safeguarded via the provision of local advocacy services; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  what steps he is taking to assist local authorities in providing people with profound and multiple learning disabilities with high quality local advocacy services; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  how much was spent from the public purse on the provision of advocacy services for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: It is up to local authorities to decide how much advocacy they commission for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, who they commission it from and how they make it available to their local populations. The role of the Department is to provide the framework for services—to be clear about social care law and about social care policy. Therefore, we are considering the report of the Law Commission and looking to modernise the legal framework in which social care is provided.
	It is for local authorities and national health service commissioning staff to ensure that advocacy services meet the needs of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities through their commissioning arrangements. They also monitor and assess the quality of advocacy and local needs and make decisions about deployment of services.
	Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, local authorities and general practitioner commissioning consortia will be required to prepare a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). This is to ensure that each area develops a comprehensive analysis of the current and future needs of their area (including those relevant to health, social care and public health). Based on the JSNA, the members of the Health and Wellbeing Board will be required to develop a joint health and well-being strategy for their area.
	In its ‘Vision for Adult Social Care, Capable Communities and Active Citizens’, the Government say that
	“councils should focus on improving the range, quality and accessibility of information, advice and advocacy available for all people in their communities—regardless of how their care is paid for—to support their social care choices”.
	Additionally, the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) Service was created under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. The MCA introduced a new duty to instruct advocates in certain conditions for people who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Department has funded this service by making £6 million available to local authorities to commission local services to provide the IMCA role. Nearly 10,000 people benefited from this last year and the Department published an annual report on the IMCA service in November 2010.
	The Department has worked with the advocacy sector to develop a national qualification in advocacy, which is available to the sector and to commissioners. The national advocacy qualification has been part of the professionalising of advocacy and ensures that advocates are appropriately trained. The Department has also funded a ‘Quality Mark’ system, administered by Action for Advocacy, which enable advocacy organisations to demonstrate their services are of high quality.
	The Department does not collect local information on advocacy provision and its costs.

Disability: Housing

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the specific housing needs of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received on improvements to the quality and provision of housing for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Valuing People Now (2009) said that independent supported living can be enjoyed by people with profound and multiple learning disabilities because the support is tailored to their particular requirements based on an assessment of individual needs and choices. Different types of housing and support, including home ownership and assured tenancies have to be matched and coordinated with a package of care specifically designed to support the particular individual in the home of their choice.
	Professor Jim Mansell's report, ‘Raising our Sights’, published in March 2010 identified a need for adequate housing for adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. The Government's response to Professor Mansell's report recognised that there is a continuing need for new affordable housing, including supported housing. The needs and aspirations of those with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities should be considered in the provision of general housing needs, as well as in specialist provision. We expect housing associations and local authorities to work closely to identify the type of provision that will most appropriately meet the locally identified needs. They will also have the best understanding of how any new provision will fit with, and complement, existing services and supported housing locally.
	The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be issuing a consultation paper on the payment of housing costs for people living in supported and sheltered housing classified as exempt accommodation. DWP intend to publish this shortly.

Preventable Diseases: South Asian Communities

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to tackle preventable diseases in South Asian communities;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to provide information on diabetes to South Asian communities.

Paul Burstow: In the public health White Paper, “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England”, we announced radical reforms to how public health is managed in future. From April 2013, local authorities will be given responsibility, backed by a ring-fenced public health grant, and new freedoms, to make a major impact on improving people's health and tackling health inequalities in every community.
	We remain fully committed to the NHS Health Check programme, which is aimed at everyone in England between the ages of 40-74. It is a risk assessment and risk management programme, which assesses people's risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and supports people to reduce or manage that risk through individually tailored advice. In rolling out this programme, some primary care trusts targeted high-risk groups first such as South Asian populations who are at particularly high risk of diabetes.
	The recently published National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidance, “Preventing type 2 diabetes: population and community-level interventions in high-risk groups and the general population”, makes recommendations for the provision of culturally appropriate messages about preventing type 2 diabetes. The guidance underlines the action that we are already taking to improve public health and reduce the risk of people developing type 2 diabetes. It is for the national health service at a local level to determine the needs of their local population and to allocate resources appropriately to meet these needs.
	To raise awareness of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, the Government developed a national movement called “Change4life” to help parents make healthier food choices for their children and encourage more activity.

GP Surgeries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP surgeries he has visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Simon Burns: In the last 12 months my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health visited eight general practitioner practices in an official capacity.

Health Centres: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses and (b) allied health professionals work in GP clinics in each London borough.

Simon Burns: Information is not collected in the format requested.
	The following table provides a headcount of general practitioner (GP) practice nurses and direct patient care staff in each primary care trust (PCT) area as at 30 September 2010.
	
		
			 GP practice nurses and direct patient care staff headcount in selected region, as at 30 September 2010 
			    Headcount 
			   GP practice nurse Direct patient care 
			 Q36 London strategic health authority 2,930 1,244 
			     
			 5A4 Havering PCT 67 22 
			 5A5 Kingston PCT 109 10 
			 5A7 Bromley PCT 126 44 
			 5A8 Greenwich Teaching PCT 121 44 
			 5A9 Barnet PCT 124 53 
			 5AT Hillingdon PCT 104 37 
			 5C1 Enfield PCT 96 19 
			 5C2 Barking and Dagenham PCT 77 16 
			 5C3 City and Hackney Teaching PCT 72 70 
			 5C4 Tower Hamlets PCT 76 34 
			 5C5 Newham PCT 115 20 
			 5C9 Haringey Teaching PCT 89 0 
			 5H1 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 47 36 
			 5HX Ealing PCT 135 71 
			 5HY Hounslow PCT 90 59 
		
	
	
		
			 5K5 Brent Teaching PCT 103 54 
			 5K6 Harrow PCT 93 20 
			 5K7 Camden PCT 39 57 
			 5K8 Islington PCT 61 32 
			 5K9 Croydon PCT 154 51 
			 5LA Kensington and Chelsea PCT 54 16 
			 5LC Westminster PCT 71 58 
			 5LD Lambeth PCT 136 97 
			 5LE Southwark PCT 76 82 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 182 16 
			 5LG Wandsworth PCT 108 57 
			 5M6 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 58 34 
			 5M7 Sutton and Merton PCT 128 74 
			 5NA Redbridge PCT 85 19 
			 5NC Waltham Forest PCT 99 28 
			 TAK Bexley Care Trust 35 14 
			 Notes: 1. Data are not available for London boroughs. PCT boundaries correspond exactly to London boroughs. 2. In the 2010 GP practice census, headcount figures on direct patient care were reported for the first time. Direct patient care contains all qualified staff excluding general practitioners and practice nurses. Similarly to the staff group ‘Allied Health Professionals’ on the non-medical census, staff in the direct patient care category contain those such as physiotherapists, speech therapists, chiropodists etc. 3. Figures are for staff working in GP practices in London SHA. 4. Data Quality: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data, but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed, but unless it is significant at national level, figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

Health Centres: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs practise in each London borough.

Simon Burns: Information is not collected in the format requested.
	The following table provides a headcount of general practitioners (GPs) in each primary care trust area as at 30 September 2010.
	
		
			 GPs (excluding retainers and registrars) in selected region as at 30 September 2010 
			 Headcount 
			 Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 5,340 
			    
			 5A4 Havering PCT 130 
			 5A5 Kingston PCT 119 
			 5A7 Bromley PCT 215 
			 5A8 Greenwich Teaching PCT 157 
			 5A9 Barnet PCT 226 
			 5AT Hillingdon PCT 149 
			 5C1 Enfield PCT 192 
			 5C2 Barking and Dagenham PCT 110 
			 5C3 City and Hackney Teaching PCT 200 
			 5C4 Tower Hamlets PCT 198 
		
	
	
		
			 5C5 Newham PCT 196 
			 5C9 Haringey Teaching PCT 179 
			 5H1 Hammersmith And Fulham PCT 128 
			 5HX Ealing PCT 213 
			 5HY Hounslow PCT 141 
			 5K5 Brent Teaching PCT 207 
			 5K6 Harrow PCT 152 
			 5K7 Camden PCT 182 
			 5K8 Islington PCT 152 
			 5K9 Croydon PCT 224 
			 5LA Kensington and Chelsea PCT 108 
			 5LC Westminster PCT 146 
			 5LD Lambeth PCT 266 
			 5LE Southwark PCT 197 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 194 
			 5LG Wandsworth PCT 252 
			 5M6 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 121 
			 5M7 Sutton and Merton PCT 256 
			 5NA Redbridge PCT 136 
			 5NC Waltham Forest PCT 157 
			 TAK Bexley Care Trust 118 
			 Notes: 1. Data not available for London boroughs. PCT boundaries correspond exactly to London boroughs. 2. The new headcount methodology for 2010 data is not fully comparable with previous years' data due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication here: www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/010_Workforce/nhsstaff0010/Census_Bulletin_March_2011_Final.pdf 3. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components. 4. Data Quality: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published, This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients contracted MRSA while in hospitals in Havering in the last five years.

Simon Burns: The information is not collected in the format requested.
	The figures presented are the “trust apportioned number” referring to infections that are presumed to be acquired in that trust during that visit. Data apportioned to trust are only available from 2008 onwards for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia episodes.
	Cases are trust apportioned if the location of the patient when the specimen was taken was reported as an acute hospital “in-patient”, “day patient” or “emergency assessment patient” and the specimen date was on, or after, the third day of the admission where day of admission is equal to day 1.
	These data only show the number of reported MRSA bloodstream infections, this does not reflect the number of different patients as one patient may have had more than one episode of infection reported.
	These data are only available by financial year.
	
		
			 Trust apportioned cases of bloodstream infections caused by MRSA—Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust  ,   April to March each year 
			  Number 
			 2008-09 20 
			 2009-10 19 
			 2010-11(1) 15 
			 (1) Figure is derived from monthly published data.

Hospitals: Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) paramedics and (d) dentists have been injured on duty by a patient in the last five years.

Simon Burns: The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of reported physical assaults against national health service staff is contained in tables as follows:
	‘Tables showing number of reported physical assaults on NHS staff from 2004-05 to 2007-08, broken down by NHS trust/PCT’
	‘Tables showing number of reported physical assaults on NHS staff in 2009-10, broken down by NHS trust/PCT’
	‘Tables showing number of reported physical assaults on NHS staff in 2008-09, broken down by NHS trust/PCT’
	The above tables have been placed in the Library.
	The tables show the number of reported physical assaults, but do not specify professional categories, whether an injury was sustained, or whether the member of staff was on duty when the assault took place.

Hospitals: Parking

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pieces of correspondence his Department received (a) in favour of and (b) against removing hospital car parking charges in England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: On 16 September 2010, the Department published their response to the consultation carried out by the previous Government on national health service car parking charges. The response made clear that such charges are a matter for local decisions based on local circumstances but that patients have a fundamental right to fair and appropriate car parking concessions, where needed, and hospital trusts are expected to deliver them.
	Since 6 May 2010, according to the Department’s central correspondence system, the Department has received 364 items about hospital car parking charges. Of those, 338 expressed concern about one or more aspects of how the NHS charged for car parking.

Hospitals: Security

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether his Department has plans to increase security in hospitals;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had on security in hospitals.

Simon Burns: Adequate levels of security provision are for national health service bodies to establish on a local basis, according to assessment of the security risks they face.
	NHS Protect has national responsibility for leading work to protect NHS staff and resources from crime and provides advice and guidance to NHS bodies on assessing security risks and taking effective action. This includes support provided regionally by Area Security Management Specialists.
	All NHS bodies are required to nominate an executive director with overall responsibility for security management and a non-executive director to support this work at board level. All NHS bodies must also nominate a Local Security Management Specialist to take forward security management work locally.

Hospitals: Visits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals he has visited in an official capacity in the last year.

Simon Burns: In the last 12 months my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health visited 33 hospitals in an official capacity.

John Radcliffe Hospital: Blood Transfusions

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the development of the electronic blood transfusion system at the John Radcliffe Hospital was first initiated.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally. The right hon. Member may wish to approach the trust directly to retrieve the information required.

Liverpool Primary Care Trust: Advertising

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much has been spent on (a) advertising promotions and (b) promotions by Liverpool primary care trust in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the cost to the NHS was of advertising by Liverpool primary care trust (a) in the Liverpool Echo and (b) on radio related to (i) NHS Healthcheck, (ii) cancer symptoms and (iii) dentistry in the latest period for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: It is for each primary care trust to determine how best to spend their allocated funding in the best interests of their local populations.

Medical Equipment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what clinical studies are required in respect of new high risk implantable devices to be used in surgery; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what evidence of quality and reliability is required before new hip joints, stents and pacemakers are used in surgical procedures in the NHS.

Simon Burns: Before a medical device can be placed on the market the manufacturer has to show that he has met the safety, quality and performance requirements laid down in the EC medical devices directives. This will include having clinical data to support any claims made for the device. For high risk devices, such as hip joints, stents and pacemakers, the clinical data is assessed by an independent conformity assessment organisation, known as a notified body, designated by the competent authority of the member state where they are located. On the basis of the notified body's conformity assessment the manufacturer can affix the CE marking (denoting compliance with the directive requirements) on the device.
	Since March 2010, when the 2007 revision of the EC medical devices directive came fully into force, manufacturers of high risk devices have to justify, to the notified body, not conducting a specific clinical trial of their product to obtain the clinical data. Where this is because the manufacturer is relying on data relating to a similar device, the manufacturer has to demonstrate equivalency between the devices and thus the relevance and appropriateness of the data used.

Ophthalmology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many opticians' premises he has visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Simon Burns: In the last 12 months the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire has not visited any opticians’ premises in an official capacity.

Public Expenditure

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to cease to fund any of its functions over the period of the comprehensive spending review.

Simon Burns: The Department has not ceased to fund any of its functions since the beginning of the current spending round, as the functions of the Department have not changed. The Department continues, for example, to fulfil its Department of State functions of accountability to the public and Parliament; to provide strategic oversight of health and social care policy; and to be accountable for the funding of the national health service.
	Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, the Department's functions will change as a result of the modernisation process. We will be reviewing the Department's operating model to determine which functions the Department should continue to fulfil, and which should be moved. It is therefore likely that some functions will be transferred to other organisations and the Department will take on some new ones. The exact timing and nature of these changes will not be confirmed until the outcome of the listening exercise is known.

Ritalin

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been prescribed Ritalin in England in each of the last five years.

Simon Burns: Information on the number of people prescribed a medicine is not collected. The following table shows the number of prescription items dispensed for methylphenidate hydrochloride, of which Ritalin is a brand.
	
		
			 Number of methylphenidate hydrochloride prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England, 2006-2010 
			  Methylphenidate Hydrochloride (thousand) Of which Ritalin (thousand) 
			 2006 456.9 26.5 
			 2007 535.3 25.5 
			 2008 573.4 22.8 
			 2009 610.2 20.2 
			 2010 661.5 18.8 
			 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on seasonal affective disorder and the NHS.

Paul Burstow: We are not aware of any recent representations.

Smoking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the predominant determinants of smoking initiation.

Anne Milton: There is a growing body of published, peer reviewed research evidence on the determinants of smoking initiation. The Department monitors all relevant evidence in this area because of the crucial need to reduce the take up of smoking by children.
	The recently published Tobacco Control Plan for England includes references to some of this evidence such as Gervais, A. et al. (2006). “Milestones in the natural course of cigarette use among adolescents” in Canadian Medical Association Journal 175(3).
	A copy of the plan has already been placed in the Library.

Surgery: Private Sector

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations on NHS patients were carried out by private sector organisations in each year since 2000.

Simon Burns: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 A count of finished consultant episodes  (1)   where a main operative procedure or intervention  (2)   was performed at independent sector providers; 2000-01 to 2009-10  (3) 
			  FCEs with an operative procedure 
			  Carried out by independent sector providers Carried out by all organisations (including independent sector providers) 
			 2000-01 11 6,509,425 
			 2001-02 11 6,435,022 
			 2002-03 438 6,612,582 
			 2003-04 4,936 6,772,074 
		
	
	
		
			 2004-05 13,109 6,847,589 
			 2005-06 16,051 7,215,286 
			 2006-07 61,125 7,888,074 
			 2007-08 87,027 8,606,493 
			 2008-09 159,249 9,274,423 
			 2009-10 208,693 9,747,584 
			 (1) Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. (2) Main procedure or intervention The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. (3) Assessing growth through time Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in national health service practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Note: Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Tobacco

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 9 March 2011, Official Report, columns 66-68WS, on the Tobacco Control Plan (England), what evidence his Department has examined on the targeting of tobacco promotion on young people;
	(2)  with reference to his Department's publication “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: a tobacco control plan for England”, what evidence his Department has examined to support the view that tobacco companies are seen to promote tobacco products through entertainment media.

Anne Milton: We have published six pages of Resources for Comprehensive Tobacco Control as an appendix to the Tobacco Control plan for England. This appendix includes links to the growing body of evidence of the targeting of tobacco promotion to young people and the promotion of tobacco products through entertainment media. Amongst the resources are:
	“Preventing the uptake of smoking by children and young people” (NICE public health guidance 14) and “School based interventions to prevent smoking” (NICE public health guidance 23).
	A copy of the plan has already been placed in the Library.

Tobacco

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with representatives from the tobacco industry in the last 12 months.

Anne Milton: We have had no discussions with the tobacco industry. We take very seriously the United Kingdom’s obligations as a party to the World Health Organisation's framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC). The FCTC places obligations on parties to protect the development of public health policy from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. We have made our commitment on this very clear in chapter 10 of the Tobacco Control Plan for England.
	A copy of the plan has already been placed in the Library.

Tobacco: Regulations

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether he plans to make available the conclusions of the proposed consultation on plain packaging of tobacco products before the entry into force of regulations on the display of tobacco products;
	(2)  if he will commission an independent report on the effects of plain packaging of tobacco products in Australia before implementation of any such requirements in England.

Anne Milton: The Government have committed to consult on options to reduce the promotional impact of tobacco packaging, including plain packaging, before the end of 2011. A report on the consultation exercise will be published, including confirmation of the proposed way forward, following the consultation. The timing of publication of this report is unrelated to the commencement of the legislation ending displays of tobacco products in shops in England.
	The Department's approach to plain packaging will be set out in the consultation document, including consideration of the available evidence about whether plain packaging would have an additional public health benefit.

Tobacco: Regulations

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to include a sunset clause in any amended regulations on the display of tobacco products in retail premises;
	(2)  whether he plans to submit for scrutiny amended draft regulations on the display of tobacco products to (a) the Regulatory Policy Committee and (b) the Reducing Regulation Committee.

Anne Milton: As with all new legislation that impacts on business, amended regulations on the display of tobacco products are subject to the Government's regulatory framework. This includes consideration by the Reducing Regulation Committee, as advised by the Regulatory Policy Committee, and consideration of the Government's policy on sunsetting.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Directors: Females

David Mowat: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities when she plans to respond to Lord Davies' recommendations on increasing the numbers of female directors; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: We strongly welcomed Lord Davies' report and his recommendations for a business-led strategy to improve the gender diversity of corporate boards. We do not plan to issue a formal response.
	We are working with key stakeholders, including chair persons of companies, company secretaries, academics and business representative organisations to encourage companies to adopt the measures set out by Lord Davies, including publishing aspirational targets for the number of women on their boards in 2013 and 2015.

DEFENCE

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the future capacity of the armed forces following the decisions made in the strategic defence and security review.

Liam Fox: As they are showing every day in Afghanistan, in Libya and in other operations as tasks around the world, our armed forces remain highly capable and flexible, able to carry out a wide range of operations at some distance from the UK. This will continue as we progress towards Future Force 2020.

Defence Equipment: Afghanistan

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the equipment available to the armed forces in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Luff: The delivery of capability to our armed forces in Afghanistan is our top priority and equipment requirements are kept under constant review. As we have made clear on many occasions, this Government are determined to make sure that our service personnel have all the equipment and protection they need for the vital work they are undertaking in Afghanistan and that is exactly what we are doing.

Defence Exports

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to increase UK defence exports.

Gerald Howarth: As I reported to the House during questions on 31 January 2011, we are supporting defence exports through an active and innovative cross-Government defence diplomacy initiative, working closely with the UKTI Defence and Security Organisation. Exports help to build and enhance relations with allies, to support UK defence industry, and to reduce the cost of equipment for Britain’s armed forces. They are also an essential element of the Government’s export-led growth strategy.
	Ministers and officials from across Government, including the Prime Minister, continue actively to promote British defence exports overseas.

Operation Ellamy

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future of the commitment to Operation Ellamy; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Fox: The UK remains committed to Operation Ellamy and the ongoing mission in support of UN Security Council resolution 1973. We are clear—we will end military action when the regime obeys international law and UN Security Council resolutions and lifts the threat to the Libyan people.

Franco-British Co-operation

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in developing a work programme for increased Franco-British co-operation on the acquisition of (a) submarine technologies and (b) unmanned aerial systems.

Peter Luff: We have made significant progress in these areas of Franco-British co-operation. We have, with our French colleagues, identified a number of potential areas for co-operation around submarine enterprise management and some specific equipments and technologies. Detailed proposals will be put to national authorities for consideration, taking into account extant international agreements and obligations. We are also taking forward joint work on some of the equipment and technologies on unmanned aerial systems, along with the other strands of co-operative work which we announced following the summit in November 2010.

Technical Training

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future of defence technical training; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The future location or locations of defence technical training are currently being considered as part of the Defence Technical Training Change Programme. This process is subject to full internal scrutiny and a final decision is expected before the end of this year.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British-based private security companies were employed in operations in Afghanistan in the latest period for which information is available; and what regulations govern the conduct and use of such companies by commissioners other than the British Government.

Liam Fox: The British Government specifically the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, currently have three contracts with British-based private security companies in Afghanistan.
	An international code of conduct for private security companies was signed in November 2010. Over 90 companies, many British-based, have signed up to observe this voluntary code. Signatory companies commit themselves to:
	“responsible provision of security services so as to support the rule of law, respect human rights of all persons, and protect the interests of their clients.”
	The Government are now working with others to establish an international mechanism to monitor compliance with the code.

RFA Largs Bay

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future of RFA Largs Bay.

Peter Luff: Following a competition to market RFA Largs Bay for continued military use, the Australian Government have been selected as the preferred bidder to buy the ship. Detailed discussions are now taking place with the Australian Department of Defence to complete the sale.

PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  for what reason letters are sent from his office to hon. Members giving information which cannot be true;
	(2)  what responsibility he takes for replies sent to letters from hon. Members from his Office purportedly signed by individuals who do not exist.

David Cameron: Correspondence was handled under arrangements put in place in 2005 when on security advice, following an incident in which a member of staff was personally targeted and threatened, members of staff were advised not to use their names. After review this approach will no longer be used.

Ministers

Ian Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister on which occasions he has met the First Minister of (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland since his appointment.

David Cameron: I met the First Ministers of Wales, Scotland and the First and deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland at Downing street on 8 June 2010. I also met the First Minister for Wales on 17 May 2010, the First Minister for Scotland on 14 May 2010 and 14 February 2011, and the First and deputy First Ministers for Northern Ireland on 20 May 2010. I, and Secretaries of State, are in regular communication with them. Following the 5 May elections I have spoken to the First Ministers of Wales and Scotland, and the First and deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland.

Prime Minister: Meetings

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister what matters were discussed during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel; who attended the meeting; what the duration of the meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

David Cameron: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by a No.10 spokesperson after my meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel. A copy of the statement can be found on the No. 10 website at:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/latest-news/2011/05/pm-welcomes-prime-minister-netanyahu-to-number-10-2-63463

TREASURY

Business: Government Assistance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to receive state aid approval from the European Commission for the proposed changes announced in the 2011 Budget to (a) research and development tax credits for small and medium-sized enterprises, (b) the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts and (c) the climate change levy.

Justine Greening: The Government have submitted notifications to the European Commission regarding the changes proposed in the 2011 Budget to the research and development tax credits for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Enterprise Investment Scheme, Venture Capital Trusts and the climate change levy.
	The Government expect to receive a response from the Commission in due course.

Credit Unions

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to support credit unions.

Mark Hoban: The Government are bringing forward detailed proposals to foster diversity, promote mutuals and create a more competitive banking industry.
	On 12 April, the Treasury made the Mutual Societies (Electronic Communications) Order 2011. This allows credit unions and other mutuals to communicate with their members electronically.
	On 3 March, the Department for Work and Pensions announced a £73 million Modernisation Fund to help credit unions expand their services.
	The Legislative Reform (Industrial and Provident Societies and Credit Unions) Order 2011 will be re-laid before Parliament in due course and will present new opportunities for credit unions to develop their services and expand their membership.
	The Government will then bring forward proposals to commence sections of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies and Credit Unions Act 2010.

EU Budget

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential change to (a) the EU budget and (b) UK contributions to the EU budget arising from any sovereign defaults on loan payments by Greece.

Justine Greening: There are no contributions to the May 2010 international financial assistance package for Greece from the EU budget or from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, which is backed by the EU budget.

Financial Institutions: Redundancy

Richard Fuller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid in redundancy or other severance compensation to each senior executive and director of a UK financial institution that has received financial support from the public purse since July 2007.

Mark Hoban: The terms and provisions of the remuneration contracts in place for individuals who were employed at Lloyds Banking Group, HBOS, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock are a matter for the individuals and the banks’ management.
	Quoted companies are required to produce a directors’ remuneration report containing information on the remuneration paid to their directors.

Income Tax

Edward Timpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of people resident in Crewe and Nantwich constituency who will no longer pay income tax consequent on the proposed increase in the personal allowance from April 2011.

David Gauke: The June 2010 Budget announced a £1,000 cash increase in the personal allowance for under 65s to £7,475 in 2011-12 (£820 above the previous Government's plans), with the benefits focused on individuals on low and middle incomes through accompanying changes to the basic rate limit and national insurance upper earnings and profit limits.
	As a result of these measures, the Government estimate that 830,000 of the lowest income taxpayers will be removed from income tax altogether, of whom 100,000 are in the north-west and Merseyside region.
	These estimates are based on the 2007-08 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2011 economic and fiscal outlook.
	Reliable estimates are not available at the parliamentary constituency level, due to greater uncertainties in projections for small geographical areas and small sample sizes.

Libya: Public Expenditure

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the size is of the Treasury reserve he plans to provide for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

Danny Alexander: holding answer 10 May 2011
	The Treasury continues to work closely with the MoD to review expenditure associated with the UK commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1973. Given the nature of the military operations, the additional costs are not fixed and will continue to be met from the Reserve. Current estimates of likely expenditure are within the range described by the Chancellor in the House on 22 March 2011, Official Report, column 850.

Loans: Portugal

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the EU financial rescue package for Portugal on the (a) integrity of the eurozone and (b) UK economy.

Mark Hoban: A strong and stable euro area is in the UK national interest—more than 40% of the UK’s exports are to the euro area. Further, we must also be alive to the risks that the current uncertainty poses, because of financial sector linkages, well beyond the euro area. Treasury officials closely monitor developments in Portugal and the rest of the euro area, as with all major economies, as part of the normal policy development process.

National Insurance Fund

Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the surplus of the National Insurance Fund was in each of the last five years; and what proportion of receipts of the National Insurance Fund was allocated to funding the mandatory state pension in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: The information requested is available in the published Great Britain National Insurance Fund Accounts and the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund Accounts, 2006-07 to 2009-10, copies of which are in the House Library.

Smuggling: Northern Ireland

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when HM Revenue and Customs plans to complete its review of the use of vehicle stop and search powers in Northern Ireland.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs hope to complete the review by 30 June 2011.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Martin Vickers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the Exchequer of social security payment transfers to be made under the provisions of EU Regulation 883/2004 in 2011-12.

Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.
	There are two elements to the payments—social security benefits and healthcare claims.
	Social security benefit expenditure.
	Under the EU rules that coordinate the social security rights of persons who move within the EEA and Switzerland, some benefits acquired in one member state must be paid to people who live outside that state but within the EEA or Switzerland. Generally the benefits are acquired because someone is, or has been, working in the United Kingdom and has paid the relevant national insurance contributions.
	These regulations apply to benefits for old age, sickness and invalidity, unemployment, family responsibilities, death and survivors, and industrial injuries, and lay down the circumstances in which a person retains social security benefits when they move between EEA member states. Winter fuel payments are covered by these rules.
	Figures for the cost to the Exchequer for social security payment transfers made under the provisions of EU Regulation 883/2004 for the year 2011-12 are not available.
	Healthcare claims.
	Health is a benefit in kind for the purpose of the regulations. Member states reimburse each other on an annual basis for care provided to each other's citizens. The costs are for claims for medical costs made under the European Health Insurance Card scheme, for healthcare provided to posted workers, for planned treatment and for healthcare costs relating to state pensioners. State pensioner costs account for around 80% of the total spend.
	The UK pays out far more than it receives mainly due to the large number of UK state pensioners who retire overseas in comparison to the very low number of state pensioners from other EEA countries who retire to the UK.
	Estimated totals for claims by and against the UK for healthcare benefits in kind made under the regulation for the year 2011-12 are £60 million and £952 million respectively.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Martin Vickers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the amount transferred in social security payment transfers under the provisions of EU Regulation No 1408/71 in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.
	I will let the hon. Member have such information as is available as soon as possible.
	Substantive answer from Chris Grayling to Martin Vickers:
	There are two elements to the payments—social security benefits and health care claims.
	Social security benefit expenditure
	Under the EU rules that coordinate the social security rights of persons who move within the EEA and Switzerland, some benefits acquired in one member state must be paid to people who live outside that state but within the EEA or Switzerland. Generally the benefits are acquired because someone is, or has been, working in the United Kingdom and has paid the relevant national insurance contributions.
	These regulations apply to benefits for old age, sickness and invalidity, unemployment, family responsibilities, death and survivors, and industrial injuries, and lay down the circumstances in which a person retains social security benefits when they move between EEA member states. Winter fuel payments are covered by these rules.
	Health  care expenditure
	Health is a benefit in kind for the purpose of the regulations. Member states reimburse each other on an annual basis for care provided to each other's citizens. The costs are for claims for medical costs made under the European Health Insurance Card scheme, for health care provided to posted workers, for planned treatment and for health care costs relating to state pensioners. State pensioner costs account for around 80% of the total spend.
	The UK pays out far more than it receives mainly due to the large number of UK state pensioners who retire overseas in comparison to the very low number of state pensioners from other EEA countries who retire to the UK.
	The amounts transferred in respect of social security benefits and health care claims under the provisions of EU Regulation 1408/71 are shown in the following tables. The figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.
	
		
			 Social security payments 
			 £ million 
			  Total Of which state pension 
			    
			 2000-01 607 536 
			 2001-02 667 592 
			 2002-03 775 691 
			 2003-04 844 755 
			 2004-05 979 887 
			 2005-06 1,073 977 
			 2006-07 1,146 1,048 
			 2007-08 1,261 1,158 
			 2008-09 1,361 1,252 
			 2009-10 1,485 1,373 
			 Source:  DWP statistical and accounting data. 
		
	
	Figures for family benefits (child benefit and child tax credit) are not available separately from overall expenditure.
	
		
			 EEA health care costs 
			  Member states' claims against the UK Claims against member states 
			 2002-03 250 32 
			 2003-04 314 25 
			 2004-05 382 31 
			 2005-06 463 35 
			 2006-07 526 38 
			 2007-08 630 46 
			 2008-09 710 47 
			 2009-11 838 57 
			 2010-11 925 58 
		
	
	Totals for claims by and against the UK for health care benefits in kind provided for years 2002-03 to 2010-11 are set out in the table given on 12 July 2010, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA100. Comparable data for years prior to 2002-03 are not available.
	State pension could be paid in the EEA under domestic legislation but the amount payable would be different as it would not be uprated in all cases. Therefore the total amount of state retirement pension is ultimately paid as a result of the EU regulations
	The figures for health care costs are already in the public domain. The Resource Outturn totals (which represent the total claims) that the Department of Health provided have in the past been used for the Health Select Committee and are reflected in the DH Resource Accounts that are published each year, and have been used in several parliamentary questions (Commons and Lords).
	The most recent PQ containing this information was asked by Lord Laird on 12 July 2010, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA100 (reference HL952).

Tax Avoidance

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what evidence his Department has evaluated relating to allegations of UK tax avoidance by (a) Vodafone, (b) Arcadia, (c) Diageo, (d) Shell and (e) Barclays over the last 10 years.

David Gauke: I cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or corporate taxpayer.
	The Government are committed to tackling tax avoidance and set out action being taken at Budget in the document “Tackling Tax Avoidance” which is available at
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_taxavoidance.pdf
	The Government have shown their strong support for HMRC in its operational work by investing £917 million over the spending review period to tackle avoidance, evasion and criminal attack with the objective of bringing in around £7 billion per year in additional revenue by 2014-15.

VAT: Alcoholic Drinks

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) social clubs and (b) working men's clubs of the (i) increase in the rate of value added tax and (ii) changes in the rate of duty on alcohol.

David Gauke: holding answer 5 May 2011
	Economic effects are considered on the whole package of Budget measures by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). Individual measures and their impact on specific sectors are not considered in isolation.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Departmental Billing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many invoices his Department received in respect of goods or services supplied by tier 1 suppliers between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011; and how many of those invoices were not paid within the period of time specified in the Government’s Fair Payment guidance.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change received 15,829 invoices from its suppliers between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011, of which, 1,146 (7.2%) were not paid within the Government’s payment target of five days. Of these payments, 8,100 were made by Government procurement card at the point of purchase.

Departmental Billing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what mechanism his Department has established to ensure its payments are passed through the supply chain to each tier in accordance with the last date for payment defined in the Government's Fair Payment guidance.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change sets contractual terms and conditions to ensure that its payments are passed through the supply chain in accordance with the timescales set out in the Government's Fair Payment guidance. The Department's contracts include standard clauses undertaking to pay correctly submitted invoices within 30 days of receipt and requiring that contractors make payment within 30 days to any sub-contractors used to perform services on their behalf under the contract.
	In making payments to Tier 1 suppliers, the Department exceeds the Government's more stretching target to pay over 80% of valid invoices within five days of receipt.

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many contracts his Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract are held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Gregory Barker: DECC holds no contracts which allows contractors to store the personal data of UK citizens overseas.

Departmental Legal Costs

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against his Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled since its inception.

Gregory Barker: The Department has spent the following amounts:
	
		
			  Amount October 2008 to  March 2011 (£ million) 
			 Damages 162.66 
			 Claimant costs 19.59 
			 Defendant costs 96.32 
			 Total 308.57 
		
	
	Nearly all the above payments relate to injury related claims connected with the health liabilities of British Coal that now rest with the Department. The vast majority of these claims have been handled under the supervision of the High Court. However, the coal health figures relate to claims issued in all jurisdictions, even though the Department has assumed that the term “civil claims” in the question refers to claims issued in England and Wales, in the courts of civil jurisdiction (the High Court and the county courts). Data on coal health claims payments and costs relating solely to claims issued in England and Wales could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change was established in October 2008. In relation to coal health claims, the amounts included in the table for 2008-09 are pro rata estimates, based on total payments and costs that year.
	The figures included on other (non-coal health) claims relate to claims issued in England and Wales, in the courts of civil jurisdiction, and do not therefore include employment-related claims pursued through the employment tribunals. In one of these cases, the Department used the case handling services of another Government Department, and the cost of those services could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Pay

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what additional pay he plans to provide to officials in his Department in the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013 to reflect (a) seniority, (b) promotion and (c) performance.

Gregory Barker: For the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) continues to be subject to a pay freeze and will not be awarding any consolidated pay increases to staff earning more than £21,249. We plan to award consolidated pay increases of at least £250 in line with Treasury guidance to staff earning less than £21,000, although the final amount has not yet been determined.
	For the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, DECC has not yet considered what increases will be awarded to staff, as the Department will make decisions in line with central pay guidance that has not yet been published.
	(a) DECC does not currently award additional pay to reflect seniority and has no plans to do so.
	(b) Where staff are promoted from one grade to another the Department awards a 10% increase in pay, except where this results in a lower salary than the grade minimum at the higher grade, where the grade minimum is paid instead. We expect this policy to remain unchanged during the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013.
	(c) The value of any non consolidated performance awards payable between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2013 are yet to be determined.

Departmental Responsibilities

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department plans to cease to fund any of its functions over the period of the comprehensive spending review.

Gregory Barker: DECC is not ceasing any major functions. The Department is though going through a process of restructuring including reducing from five director general groups to four. We have also undertaken a business planning process that has involved reallocation of resources to ensure we have sufficient capacity and the right skills to deliver our key priorities.

Energy: Housing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what his policy is on the setting of installer qualification requirements under the Green Deal;
	(2)  whether installers who will be legally responsible for signing off on electrical work under the Green Deal will have to be qualified to level 3 or above;
	(3)  what arrangements are in place to ensure that installers who will be legally responsible for signing off on electrical work under the Green Deal are appropriately qualified;
	(4)  when his Department plans to consult on (a) the specific qualifications requirements for installers working under the Green Deal and (b) the installation works that will be included under the Green Deal funding arrangements.

Gregory Barker: We have commissioned the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop a Green Deal standard by the end of this year. This will bring together the existing standards—including those for installation of electrical works—and new standards where necessary. BSI will develop the standard with industry and also publicly consult in late summer. Only installers who meet this standard will be allowed to install measures under the Green Deal.
	We will use UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) to provide independent accreditation of installers.
	To support this, we have already announced that we will fund at least 1,000 dedicated Green Deal apprenticeships, in addition to the many apprenticeships that already exist in trade sectors—including electrical contracting and building services.

Energy: Housing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether an installer registered under the Green Deal will also be able to act as an assessor under that scheme.

Gregory Barker: Should someone meet all of the relevant standards and codes of practice to be both an installer and assessor, they may fulfil both functions under the Green Deal. In every case, there will be specific safeguards to protect consumers and retain the integrity of both processes.

Energy: Housing

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of the new Green Deal on suppliers of cavity wall insulation; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Our current estimates, as published in the Energy Bill Impact Assessment, are that from October 2012, when the Green Deal is introduced, 4 million cavity walls are feasible.
	We believe suppliers will benefit from the Green Deal or the Energy Company Obligation in accessing this remaining potential.

Feed-in Tariffs

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how much he estimates the feed-in tariffs scheme would cost energy consumers if the rules on eligibility and tariff levels remained unchanged in each of the next five years;
	(2)  how much he estimates the feed-in tariffs scheme would cost energy consumers if large-scale solar power plants remained eligible for the scheme in each of the next five years.

Gregory Barker: The estimated costs to electricity consumers of the feed-in tariffs scheme if no changes are made to the scheme as it was announced in February 2010 are provided in the following table. These projected costs are based on original analysis carried out for the February 2010 final impact assessment and recent analysis undertaken on large scale solar photovoltaics and farm-scale anaerobic digestion for the fast-track review of FITs.
	It is important to note that these figures do not take into account further evidence obtained since the launch of the fast-track review. We are in the process of reviewing this evidence, but early indications are that it would lead to an increase in the estimates.
	
		
			 Estimated costs to consumers of FITs (2011 prices, discounted) 
			  £ million 
			 2011-12 90 
			 2012-13 180 
			 2013-14 290 
			 2014-15 420 
			 2015-16 580 
			 Notes: 1. Impacts are presented as additional to baseline, where baseline costs are those costs expected to occur for sub-5MW uptake under the renewables obligation in the absence of FITs. 2. Figures have been rounded. 3. Cost to consumers is the net subsidy cost of the scheme, i.e. total generation and export tariff payments minus the value of exports to suppliers. 4. Each annual figure is cumulative, i.e. includes payments against projects that joined the feed- in tariffs scheme in previous years. 
		
	
	The first comprehensive review of FITs as announced by Government in February 2011 is currently under way and may provide revised estimates of future FIT costs to consumers.

Fuels: Prices

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on the independent petrol retailing sector of the varying cost to the sector of premium branded fuels across the UK.

Charles Hendry: The UK has a diverse, open and competitive fuel retail market that we consider to be in the wider long-term interest of consumers. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) regulates markets in the UK through enforcement of competition law, to ensure that markets work well for the benefit of consumers.
	I recognise the importance of the independent petrol retailing sector to the UK, and if independent petrol retailers have evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in the cost to the sector of premium branded fuels, I would urge them to write, enclosing as much detailed evidence as possible, to the OFT.

Fuels: Prices

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the UK (a) Government and (b) downstream oil industry will be consulted on the terms of reference for the investigation by G20 countries of (i) Argos and (ii) Platts.

Charles Hendry: The terms of reference for this investigation were established by the Communiqué issued by the G20 summit in Seoul of November 2010:
	“We also request the IEF, IEA, OPEC and IOSCO to produce a joint report, by the April 2011 Finance Ministers' meeting, on how the oil spot market prices are assessed by oil price reporting agencies and how this affects the transparency and functioning of oil markets.”
	A preliminary report to G20 Finance Ministers was made in April, with the final conclusions to be ready for Finance Ministers when they meet in October.

Fuels: Prices

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the UK (a) Government and (b) downstream oil industry will be involved in the investigation by G20 countries into the workings of (i) Argos and (ii) Platts.

Charles Hendry: This investigation was initiated by the G20 summit in Seoul of November 2010, which asked the International Energy Forum, the International Energy Agency, OPEC and the International Organization of Securities Commissions to produce a joint report on how the oil spot market prices are assessed by oil price reporting agencies (“PRAs”).
	Neither G20 members nor the downstream oil industry are directly involved in this investigation.

Fuels: Prices

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects the Downstream Oil Industry Forum report to be published; and to whom it will be circulated.

Charles Hendry: Work has been conducted to examine the resilience of the downstream oil industry by a task group of the Downstream Oil Industry Forum; a study carried out by Wood Mackenzie on behalf of DECC on this topic has been completed, is available on DECC's internet site and was placed in the Library of the House on 26 April. In addition, a related report conducted for DECC by Deloitte LLP has also been placed in the Library of the House and is available on DECC's website.

Renewable Energy

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the energy supply was generated from renewable energy sources in the UK in (a) 1997 and (b) 2010.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the proportion of primary energy supply from primary renewable energy sources for 1997 and 2009 (data will be available for 2010 in July 2011).
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  1997 2009 
			 Renewable energy proportion of primary energy supply 1.0 3.4

Renewable Energy: Manpower

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the renewable energy sector in the UK in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the numbers who will be employed in the sector in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Mark Prisk: I have been asked to reply.
	Independent analysis commissioned by this Department and its predecessors estimates that in 2008/09 the renewable energy sector (including its supply chain) employed over 266,000 people, reflecting a marginal increase on 2007/08.
	Growth rates for employment are difficult to estimate, but the commissioned analysis estimated (in December 2009) average annual growth rate in market value of 5.0% for the renewable energy sector in the UK between 2009/10 and 2015/16.

Sellafield

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the section of the report to the Radioactive Substances Committee of the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic by the expert panel in relation to radioactive discharges from Sellafield into the Irish Sea since 2008.

Charles Hendry: The Government welcomed the report of the expert panel and remain committed to meeting their obligations under the OSPAR convention's radioactive substances strategy. Significant progress has been made by Sellafield in reducing radioactive discharges to the Irish sea. While annual discharge levels do fluctuate and indeed increased in 2008 and 2009, I expect this overall downward trend to continue as a result of new technology and abatement techniques though managing the legacy wastes at Sellafield remains a challenging task.

Sellafield

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with representatives of (a) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and (b) Nuclear Management Partners on the changes to the levels of (i) alpha-emitting radioactive discharges, (ii) tritium discharges, (iii) beta discharges and (iv) technetium 99 discharges from Sellafield.

Charles Hendry: No recent discussions have taken place with representatives of either the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority or Nuclear Management Partners on changes to the levels of discharges from Sellafield of these radionuclides. However, officials from my Department continue to work with Sellafield and other Government Departments to monitor the level of radioactive discharges from Sellafield.

Wind Power: Finance

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much each wind farm (a) operator and (b) site received in constraints payments in the last two financial years.

Charles Hendry: National Grid advises that the total level of constraint payments made to wind farms over the last two financial years is as follows:
	
		
			 Wind farm site Wind farm operator Constraint  payment (£) 
			 Beinn Tharsuinn Scottish Power 31,950.00 
			 Black Law Scottish Power 134,960.24 
			 Whitelee Scottish Power 466,396.47 
			 Farr RWE nPower Renewables 263,484.11 
			 Hadyard Hill Scottish and Southern 152,698.51 
			 Millennium Flack Renewables 32,533.80 
		
	
	No other wind farms have received constraint payments.

Wind Power: Finance

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to modify the constraints payments to wind farm operators as part of his plan for electricity market reform.

Charles Hendry: Reducing or increasing the output of generators is a routine part of National Grid's role to balance supply and demand. One of the tools used to do this is the “Balancing Mechanism”, where in the final hour before real time National Grid can accept “bids” and “offers” from all types of generators for the payment they require to alter their output.
	This is a competitive market where National Grid will pick the most cost-effective way to deliver what they need. This is being kept under review, but it is a matter for Ofgem who are responsible for monitoring developments in the market and facilitating any changes that may be required.
	DECC does not plan to consider constraints payments to wind farm operators as part of plans for electricity market reform.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many contracts his Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract are held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Francis Maude: Cabinet Office policy does not allow data to be stored overseas. Departmental electronic and paper records show that the Cabinet Office does not hold any contracts which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas.

Departmental Information Officers

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) press officers, (b) internal communications officers, (c) external communications officers, (d) communications strategy officers and (e) other positions with a communications remit were employed by (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) each other non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Francis Maude: The number of staff employed in press and communications within the Cabinet Office (including No. 10) was 115, as at April 2010.
	In December 2010 it was agreed to integrate the Cabinet Office, No. 10, OGC and DirectGov communications team into a single central communications function.
	The new structure now in place, which also includes teams supporting the Deputy Prime Minister and the National Security Council, has 95 posts as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Press officers 28 
			 Internal communication officers 6 
			 External communications officers 44 
			 Communication strategy officers 8 
			 Other 9 
		
	
	Commission for the Compact and Capacitybuilders, the non-departmental bodies sponsored by the Cabinet Office, ceased to exist as of the 31 march 2011. Data for communications professionals in both organisations were not available to answer this question.

Departmental Information Officers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) press officers, (b) internal communications officers, (c) external communications officers, (d) communications strategy officers and (e) officers in other positions with a communications remit his Department employed on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Francis Maude: The number of staff employed in press and communications within the Cabinet Office (including No. 10) was 115, as at April 2010.
	In December 2010 it was agreed to integrate the Cabinet Office, No. 10, OGC and DirectGov communications team into a single central communications function.
	The new structure now in place, which also includes teams supporting the Deputy Prime Minister and the National Security Council, has 95 posts as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Press officers 28 
			 Internal communication officers 6 
			 External communications officers 44 
			 Communication strategy officers 8 
			 Other 9

Government Departments: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of retendering Government contracts for IT suppliers since May 2010.

Francis Maude: The Government have not retendered contracts centrally with IT suppliers. This has been left to Departments to manage where appropriate. The Cabinet Office has not collected information relating to the costs involved in this process.
	However, since July last year, the Cabinet Office has carried out a programme of renegotiation with Government’s top suppliers, of which, 17 were IT suppliers. Over £800 million of savings have been delivered from this programme within 2010-11.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Attendance Allowance: Norwich City Council

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of attendance allowance in the Norwich city council local authority area in the latest period for which figures are available; and what average weekly level of benefit was paid to those claimants in the latest period for which figures are available.

Maria Miller: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			 Attendance allowance recipients, August 2010 
			 Area Total number of claimants Average amount  (£ per week) 
			 Norwich local authority 3,540 60.67 
			 Notes:  1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10; average amounts are shown as pounds per week and rounded to the nearest penny.  2. Figures do not include people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.  3. These figures are published at: http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html  Source:  DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Asthma

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of cases of asthma caused by high exposure to flour within the baking industry.

Chris Grayling: Statistics specifically about the number of cases of asthma caused by high exposure to flour within the baking industry are not available. Published statistics do not allow the causative agent for cases of occupational asthma to be identified within a specific occupational group. Statistics for the occupational group ‘bakers and flour confectioners’ are provided and these reflect the role of flour dust as a cause of occupational asthma.
	Based on reports by chest physicians to the Surveillance of Work Related Occupational Respiratory Disease (SWORD) scheme and reports to the Occupational Physicians Reporting Activity (OPRA) scheme, the incidence of occupational asthma among ‘bakers and flour confectioners’ during 2007-09 was estimated to be 18 cases per year. However, these statistics are subject to under-reporting.
	Other statistical data sources suggest that the overall incidence of occupational asthma may be as much as tenfold higher than estimated by SWORD and OPRA.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials in his Department are provided with mobile communication devices; and how much his Department spent on mobile telephones and related data services in the last year for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had 16,077 mobile telephones, 1,922 BlackBerries and 6,077 3G mobile data cards—figures for March 2011.
	The total spend for the 2010-11 financial year on mobile related services, including rental, call charges and data usage, was £3.4 million plus VAT.
	The Department's business units are responsible for issuing mobile communication devices to their staff based on DWP business need. DWP is currently reviewing the use of all mobile devices and this will result in a significant reduction in the overall number of devices across the Department. All business units are expected to continuously review their requirement, with an emphasis on cost reduction.
	Through the Cabinet Office, the Department has recently taken advantage of the new central Government framework on mobile tariff rates, introduced from 1 April 2011. However, the tariffs are being applied retrospectively from 1 October 2010 as part of the contractual agreement completed in autumn 2010. These new rates offer significant savings on rental and call charges. These savings are not included in the 2010-11 spend but will be brought to account during the 2011-12 financial year.
	The Department has separately negotiated further reductions in the cost of its BlackBerry rental charge. These reduced rates were agreed in autumn 2010 and came into effect from April 2011.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on ministerial travel by (a) ministerial car, (b) train, (c) bus, (d) commercial aircraft and (e) private aircraft since May 2010.

Chris Grayling: Section 10 of the Ministerial Code provides guidance on travel for Ministers and makes clear that Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. The ministerial team has led the Department's travel cost reduction programme by example, as shown by the reduction in overall travel expenditure by Ministers in the categories listed. This has decreased from £566,000 to £106,000 overall.
	This is broken down as follows, with comparative figures provided from May to February 2009-10 provided for the purpose of illustration:
	
		
			  Period  
			 Expenditure category May 2010 to February 2011 (£) May 2009 to February 2010 (£) Percentage reduction 
			 Ministerial Car 89,361.60 527,081.74 83 
		
	
	
		
			 Train 7,405.22 26,952.43 73 
			 Bus 0.00 0.00 n/a 
			 Commercial Aircraft 9,001.25 11,967.73 25 
			 Private Aircraft 0.00 0.00 n/a 
			 Total 105,768.07 566,001.90 81

Departmental Work Experience

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice his Department provides to those wishing to (a) work as an intern, (b) undertake a work experience placement and (c) work as a volunteer in his Department.

Chris Grayling: The Department provides paid summer internships to students from under-represented groups to encourage them to apply for the civil service Fast Stream. The Fast Stream is the civil service graduate development programme and the purpose of the Summer Internship programme is to encourage students from ethnic minorities and those from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds to gain experience of working in stretching assignments that will prepare them to apply for the Fast Stream when they have graduated.
	The Department will also be offering paid internships through the Whitehall Internship Programme announced as part of the Social Mobility Strategy. To complement the existing Fast Stream Summer Diversity Internships two new schemes will be piloted in summer 2011 and are targeted at students from under-represented groups including Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority communities and people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds:
	at sixth-form college level, providing placements to Year 12 students to increase professional experience and workplace skills, and
	at secondary school level, running day-long programmes within Whitehall, providing an opportunity for students to meet Ministers and senior civil servants.
	As part of the Government's Get Britain Working Work Experience initiative the Department is looking to offer a number of eligible young people short-term work experience. Initial advice to candidates on the programme will be provided by their Jobcentre Plus adviser. When people start with us we will provide a structured induction with advice and support which will help them settle into the Department and the working environment.
	There are no other specific programmes in the Department for work experience or for people to work as volunteers but there may, on occasions, be local opportunities for short spells of work experience. In such cases advice and guidance to participants would be specific to the individuals and roles involved.
	Everyone who works in the Department, in whatever capacity, is subject to baseline security checks and will receive any essential training as is appropriate to their role.

Disability Living Allowance

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many responses he has received to his Department's consultation document on the reform of disability living allowance.

Maria Miller: We consulted on the reform of disability living allowance from 6 December 2010 to 18 February 2011. We had a large response to the public consultation, receiving over 5,000 individual responses and over 500 responses from representative organisations.
	We published our response to the consultation on 4 April 2011. The full response can be viewed at:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations

Employment Agencies

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in the last year for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The information is as follows:
	Recruitment agency fees
	DWP spent £11.3 million on recruitment agency fees in 2009-10 which is the last year a full 12 months figures are available.
	Outplacement agency fees
	DWP spent £893 on outplacement agency fees in 2009-10 which is the last year a full 12 months figures are available.
	The service provides advice and support for employees who are considering applying for voluntary redundancy, or have had an application accepted.
	Staff training
	DWP spent £18.7 million on staff training in 2009-10 which is the last year a full 12 months figures are available.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of recipients of employment and support allowance there would be in the (a) work related activity group and (b) assessment phase (i) with and (ii) without time-limiting in place for each financial year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. [Official Report, 21 June 2011, Vol. 530, c. 1MC.]

Chris Grayling: The first table shows the estimated future recipients of contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) in the work related activity group (WRAG) with and without time-limiting in force.
	
		
			 Contributory ESA caseload in the WRAG 
			  With time-limiting in force Without time-limiting in force 
			 2011-12 200,000 200,000 
			 2012-13 260,000 400,000 
			 2013-14 200,000 590,000 
			 2014-15 160,000 730,000 
			 2015-16 40,000 720,000 
		
	
	The second table shows the estimated future recipients of contributory ESA in the assessment phase with and without time-limiting in force.
	
		
			 Contributory ESA caseload in the assessment phase 
			  With time-limiting in force Without time-limiting in force 
			 2011-12 180,000 180,000 
			 2012-13 110,000 190,000 
			 2013-14 180,000 190,000 
			 2014-15 170,000 180,000 
			 2015-16 160,000 170,000 
		
	
	Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 claimants and are based on Budget 2011 forecasts for the ESA time-limiting proposal. Caseloads for contributory ESA have been given as people on income-related ESA or credits-only ESA will be unaffected by the time limiting proposal.
	For those who leave the contributory ESA as a result of the time limit, it is estimated that around 60%, or approximately 400,000 people by 2015-16, are expected to be fully or partially compensated by income-related ESA, so will retain entitlement to ESA. And those who don't qualify for income-related ESA may remain on ESA on a credits-only basis.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of contributory employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the work-related activity group and (b) the assessment phase who would, in a steady-state without time-limiting, have a duration of 12 months or more.

Chris Grayling: It is estimated that in steady state, without time-limiting, around 77% of contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants in the work-related activity group or assessment phase would have duration of 12 months or more. This breaks down as 94% of contributory ESA claimants in the work-related activity group and 6% of contributory ESA claimants in the assessment phase.
	For those who leave contributory ESA as a result of the time limit, it is estimated that around 60%, or approximately 400,000 people, are expected to be fully or partially compensated by income-related ESA, so will retain entitlement to ESA.

Employment Schemes

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the new Work programme contractors his Department estimates are planning to sub-contract to voluntary sector organisations in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow city, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Chris Grayling: The Work programme competition is still under way with post tender discussions being undertaken with preferred bidders. Contracts have not yet been signed and the information requested, therefore, cannot be provided at this time. When contracts have been signed, further information, including details of the prime contractors and their subcontractors, will be published on the Contracts Finder website as part of the ongoing commitment to the Transparency agenda.
	However, there are 57 third sector organisations within the supply chains of the preferred bidders within the Contract Package Area covering the constituencies inquired about. Nationally there are over 300 first-tier third sector organisations. In addition, there is a significant number of organisations providing ad hoc support as customer requirements dictate.

Employment Schemes

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account his Department took of (a) price and (b) previous performance in the assessment of bids for contracts for the Work programme.

Chris Grayling: The Department assessed all tenders for the Work programme mini competitions from the Framework for the Provision of Employment Related Support Services against the published evaluation criteria, this was based both on quality, including performance, and financial aspects of the tenders. The evaluation was conducted without prejudice based entirely on the evidence contained within the tenders.
	The preferred bidders were publicly announced on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender in each contract package area, i.e. those that, in the opinion of DWP, offered the optimum combination of quality, financial capacity and acceptable level of risk.

Employment: Private Sector

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the sustainability of the increase in the level of private sector employment which took place during the quarter to February 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: The Government's aim is to achieve lasting growth in employment by tackling the deficit, improving the competitiveness of the economy and encouraging the growth of new businesses.
	Private sector employment rose 77,000 in November 2010-January 2011 compared to the previous quarter. This continues the recent trend that has seen it rise in each of the last four quarters and by 428,000 over the last year as a whole. The latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecast is for market based employment to rise by around 1.3 million between 2010 and 2015.

Health: Young People

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what benefits are available to 16 to 18-year-olds with long-term health conditions who are (a) in employment, (b) unable to work as a result of their condition, (c) seeking work and (d) in education.

Maria Miller: The following table summarises which benefits may be available to people in the four groups quoted in the question:
	
		
			  Benefits available to 16 to 18-year-olds with long-term health conditions who are: 
			  (a)   i  n employment (b) unable to work as a result of their condition (c) seeking work (d) in full-time education 
			 Working tax credit Yes — — — 
			 Employment and support allowance — Yes — — 
			 Disability living allowance Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Jobseekers allowance — — Yes — 
			 Income support — — — Yes 
		
	
	Working tax credit is designed to remove barriers to work and to top up earnings of working people on low to moderate incomes. People with children or a disability can claim it from age 16, provided they work at least 16 hours a week. Others must be aged 25 and work 30 or more hours a week to qualify. This reflects the fact that people without children or a disability face fewer barriers to work and should, therefore, be expected to work more hours per week than those with children or a disability.
	Employment and support allowance (ESA) is payable to people aged 16 to 65 whose ability to work is limited by ill-health or disability, subject to other qualifying conditions being met. ESA has both contributory and income-related elements; entitlement to contributory ESA is linked to a person's national insurance record with income-related ESA providing a means tested level of support.
	Disability living allowance is a cash benefit for children and adults with long-term impairments, which contributes towards the extra costs associated with their disability. It can be paid whether the recipient is in employment, unable to work as a result of their condition, seeking work or in education. It is not means tested and does not require a record of national insurance contributions.
	Young people under 18, who are available for work and training, can get jobseeker's allowance in certain situations—in particular if the young person would suffer severe hardship if the allowance were not paid. Under this power, all the individual circumstances of the young person are taken into account and it is therefore an effective safety net for those young people who are the most vulnerable. The young person will need to meet certain labour market rules and register with Connexions.
	Certain groups of young people who are still in relevant education can claim income support. These include lone parents and those who are still in full time non-advanced education (up to A Level/NVQ Level3 and equivalents) but estranged from their parents or those acting as their parents for reasons of abuse or family breakdown.

Housing Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Denbighshire were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last five years.

Steve Webb: The number of people in Denbighshire local authority who were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last five years is as follows:.
	
		
			 Table 1: Housing benefit recipients in Denbighshire local authority (LA) as at February 2007 
			  Caseload 
			 February 2007 6,000 
			 Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Quarterly aggregate clerical “stock count” returns were replaced by monthly electronic “individual level” scans from SHBE. The final quarterly return was for August 2007 and the first monthly data from SHBE was November 2008. 4. The February 2007 data have been used in this instance, in order to provide a closer time-series with the later SHBE data. Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly data—100% data taken in February 2007 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Housing benefit recipients in Denbighshire local authority (LA) as at the dates shown 
			  Caseload 
			 November 2008 6,520 
			 January 2009 6,610 
			 January 2010 7,270 
			 January 2011 7,640 
			 Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 3. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. 4. The data are available monthly from November 2008 and January 2011 is the most recent available. 5. Data from SHBE incorporate the local authority changes from 1 April 2009. 6. These figures are available from the Department's tabulation tool at: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?paae=tabtool Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE)

Industrial Accidents: Eyesight

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the policy of the Health and Safety Commission is on investigation by the Health and Safety Executive of each industrial accident that results in the permanent blinding of one or both eyes.

Chris Grayling: HSE policy is to select for potential investigation all work-related permanent blinding injuries that are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. The decision to investigate is made on a case-by-case basis and will depend upon whether any investigation is practical, there are reasonably practicable precautions that could have been taken to prevent the incident or other priorities take precedence.

Jobcentre Plus

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department monitors the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus centres in providing long-term employment.

Chris Grayling: DWP monitor the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus via a range of performance mechanisms, including performance against the Cabinet Office Structural Reform Plan and its own internal Performance Management Framework.
	The main measure of Jobcentre Plus performance is the rate at which people leave jobseeker's allowance, income support and employment and support allowance and move into employment. The measure supports the Department for Work and Pensions 2011-15 business plan and the coalition Government's structural reform priorities. Jobcentre Plus provides regular monthly progress and performance reports to the Department and Ministers, and makes performance data available to the public through the DWP website.
	For the very large numbers of Jobcentre Plus customers, it is not cost effective or appropriate to routinely monitor what happens to them after they have been successful in finding work. Jobcentre Plus has mechanisms in place to help identify those customers who return quickly to benefit and who experience difficulties remaining in work. The Department also undertakes a range of evaluation activity of its programmes to assess the impact on long-term employment.
	From June, we will implement the Work Programme where customers at most risk of longer dependency on welfare will receive additional help and support delivered through private companies. Work programme providers will receive additional financial rewards for achieving job outcomes which are sustained.

Jobcentre Plus: Crimes of Violence

Alistair Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many assaults occurred at Jobcentre Plus establishments and their predecessor benefit offices in each year from 1997 to 2010.

Chris Grayling: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Darra Singh
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many assaults occurred at Jobcentre Plus establishments and their predecessor benefit offices in each year from 1997 to 2010. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus works hard to mitigate all Health and Safety risks and whilst no assault is acceptable, it is important to review these figures in context—Jobcentre Plus staff are involved in around 60m face to face meetings with clients every year and any incident should be viewed in light of this fact. Jobcentre Plus has a robust Risk Assessment methodology to deal with this volume of customer interactions, with suitable and sufficient control measures in place to manage the majority of those contacts. The majority of incidents reported are verbal. Jobcentre Plus employs approximately 73,000 staff. It takes the safety of staff very seriously. For this reason, it encourages staff to report all incidents of unacceptable customer behaviour. Where incidents do occur we provide support through our Employee Assistance Programme. All incidents are also investigated so that, if appropriate, lessons can be learned.
	The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the table below. This information is not available for years prior to the inception of Jobcentre Plus and includes incidents involving Customer Care Officers (CCO) who are employed under contract by Group 4 Securitas.
	All figures are reported in operational years rather than calendar years.
	
		
			  Verbal assault Attempted assault Actual assault Unknown Total 
			 2005-06 8,800 1,180 360 720 11,060 
			 2006-07 13,330 1,130 480 540 15,480 
			 2007-08 14,300 1,230 440 250 16,220 
			 2008-09 13,340 1,010 420 240 15,010 
			 2009-10 12,340 820 340 210 13,710 
		
	
	Due to the phased nature of the rollout of the Jobcentre Plus organisation, the information provided is from April 2005, when the capture of information became uniform across the business.
	The information has been collated from Department of Work and Pensions Accident and Assault Database (AAD) and have been rounded to the nearest 10. Please note that the data supplied are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people whose claim for Support for Mortgage Interest ceased as a consequence of the rules on the two year limit on awards in each month of 2011 to date.

Steve Webb: We do not have an estimate of the number of people whose Support for Mortgage Interest has ceased as a result of the two-year limit.
	We carried out a scan of the jobseeker's allowance payment system in January to identify those claimants with a two-year limit date for Support for Mortgage Interest to March 2012. The scan identified the following numbers of claimants to date:
	
		
			  Claimants with a two-year limit date 
			 2011  
			 January 192 
			 February 279 
			 March 302 
			 April 386 
		
	
	It is important to note that these figures do not represent the number of claimants whose Support for Mortgage Interest has stopped. Those figures will be lower than the numbers in the table because a proportion of the claimants identified will have left benefit, for example, to move into work.

National Insurance

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were (a) issued and (b) current in each year since 2007.

Chris Grayling: The figures for the number of national insurance numbers (NINos) registered in each year since 2007 is in the following table.
	
		
			 NINo registrations 
			 Period Total (  m  illion) 
			 2007-08 1.4 
			 2008-09 1.5 
			 2009-10 (1)1.4 
			 (1 )Around.  Notes:  1. Figures are for all NINo registrations in the UK (including Northern Ireland).  2. Period refers to the annual reporting period (1 April to 31 March) and the date the NINo was registered on NPS.  3. HM Revenue and Customs no longer undertake a full scan of NINos registered to UK nationals. The figure provided is an estimated figure for overall NINo registrations, based on the number of NINo cards issued.  Source:  100% extract from HM Revenue and Customs National Insurance and PAYE (NPS) system. 
		
	
	Information is not available for the number of current national insurance numbers in each year since 2007. However, the latest available figures (February 2011) shows a total of 83.36 million national insurance number (NINo) records on DWP's Customer Information System (CIS). These consist of:
	63.73 million live NINo accounts
	19.63 million NINo accounts with a date of death applied.
	Once a NINo is allocated it needs to remain on the Department's computer system. This is because the NINo provides a permanent numerical link between the individual and their national insurance contribution record, which determines entitlement to contributory benefits and state pension. In the case of deceased individuals, a partner may make a claim for a contributory benefit, which is dependant on the contribution record of the deceased individual.

Pension Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for the operation of the new housing element of state pension credit.

Steve Webb: In the Welfare Reform Bill, we are taking powers to introduce a housing credit within pension credit and the intention is that this will operate on broadly similar lines to the current rules that apply in housing benefit. Detailed arrangements are still under consideration.

Pension Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether any future recipients of welfare payments to couples where one person is above the qualifying age for state pension credit and their partner is entitled to universal credit will be worse off under the system proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: In the Welfare Reform Bill, we are taking powers to restrict access to pension credit for couples so that couples with one member below the qualifying age for pension credit will be required to claim universal credit if they need support through the benefits system.
	We believe it wholly appropriate that people below the pension credit qualifying age should receive the support that will be available through universal credit to encourage and enable work. We are still considering the support that will be available for couples in this position. However, we also recognise that it is important not to undermine the stability and outcomes for existing pension credit customers, so the change will only apply to new claims and not to couples already in receipt of pension credit.

Sick Leave

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the contribution to meeting his Department's planned efficiency savings which will be made by reducing sickness absence.

Chris Grayling: No financial estimate of the contribution of reducing sickness absence to the Department's efficiency plans has been made. However, the Department has a strong track record in reducing sickness to increase the resource available to deliver public services, and strives to continually improve its performance in this area, having reduced sickness absence from a level of 11.1 days per employee per year in March 2007 to 8.1 days per employee per year currently.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fines were issued for benefit fraud in each year since 2006; and how much was received from such fines in each such year.

Chris Grayling: Fines for benefit fraud can be issued only by the courts and are managed by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service.
	However, the Department does have the power to issue administrative penalties as a punishment for benefit fraud, which are similar to fines. The following tables provide information on the number of administrative penalties issued and the amount that has been recovered from these penalties:
	
		
			  Number of administrative penalties issued 
			 2006-07 9,810 
			 2007-08 8,566 
			 2008-09 7,160 
			 2009-10 7,249 
			 Note: Data are not yet available for 2010-11. Source: Fraud and Error by Sector (FIBS) and Fraud Referral and Intervention Management System (FRAIMS). The figures are Management Information (MI) collected for the purpose of routine administration, and therefore have not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance that is applied to DWP official statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			  Total recoveries from administrative penalties  (£ million) 
			 2008-09 1.8 
			 2009-10 1.7 
			 2010-11 1.6 
			 Note: Data on the amount recovered prior to 2008-09 are not available. Source: The figures provided are from Shared Services Debt Manager via Business Objects computer system and are subject to rounding. The figures are Management Information (MI) collected for the purpose of routine administration, and therefore have not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance that is applied to DWP official statistics.

Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the likely effect of the cap on benefit entitlement on the financial incentives and disincentives for couples comprising two lone parents to live apart in separate households.

Chris Grayling: No assessment has been made of the likely effect of the cap on benefit entitlement on the financial incentives and disincentives for couples comprising two lone parents to live apart in separate households.
	Our introduction of universal credit will reduce the couple penalty for many low income couples, particularly single earner couples. It will provide an enhanced earnings disregard which, along with the reduced taper, will allow couples to keep more of their income in work. Couples will also receive the higher personal allowance available in the current out-of-work benefits within their universal credit to ensure they are not disadvantaged relative to working single people.

State Retirement Pensions

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the likely change in the number of people eligible to receive a state pension in each of the next 10 years.

Steve Webb: The following table presents projections of the UK population above state pension age under the currently legislated state pension age timetable and that proposed in the Pensions Bill 2011.
	
		
			  Pensions Act 2007 timetable Pensions Bill 2011 timetable 
			 2011 12,178,000 12,178,000 
			 2012 12,279,000 12,279,000 
			 2013 12,362,000 12,362,000 
			 2014 12,416,000 12,416,000 
			 2015 12,460,000 12,460,000 
			 2016 12,493,000 12,458,000 
			 2017 12,527,000 12,403,000 
			 2018 12,561,000 12,348,000 
			 2019 12,601,000 12,137,000 
			 2020 12,686,000 12,019,000 
			 Note:  Projections rounded to the nearest 1,000. These projections, based on ONS’ 2008 UK principal population projections, do not include estimates of overseas claims and possible deferral or non take-up of state pension.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Elections

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what consideration he has given to bringing forward proposals to ensure that returning officers meet agreed standards in the (a) organisation and (b) timing of election counts; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Harper: Under provisions in the Electoral Administration Act 2006, the Electoral Commission has determined and published performance standards for returning officers who are responsible for the conduct of elections, including the arrangements for the counting of votes.
	The Electoral Commission’s performance standards for returning officers cover a range of areas in relation to the delivery of elections, including ensuring that returning officers have sufficient skills and knowledge to carry out their statutory duties, have developed robust planning processes for an election and provide appropriate training for all staff used at an election, which will be of relevance to the returning officer’s function in relation to the counting of votes.
	The commission advised in their assessment of returning officers’ performance at the 2010 general election that they were encouraged both by the overall level of performance against the standards, and the willingness of returning officers and their teams to use the performance standards framework as a basis for continued improvement. The commission found that 95% of returning officers met or exceeded all three of the standards relating to ‘planning and organisation’ (‘skills and knowledge of the returning officer’, ‘planning’ and ‘training’) and 98% either met or exceeded the first standard relating to ‘skills and knowledge’ of the returning officer.
	We look forward to the commission’s reports for the 2011 referendum and elections.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Taxation

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated assessing any correlation between levels of business taxation and private sector investment in (i) research and development and (ii) new technology.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has not commissioned any research assessing the correlation between overall levels of business taxation and private sector investment in research and development (R&D) or new technology. The impact of the tax regime on business decisions is a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
	In November 2010, a qualitative report jointly commissioned by BIS and HM Revenue and Customs looking at the impact of R&D tax credits on businesses’ processes for making decisions on R&D was published. This report found that for the businesses interviewed R&D tax credits had little effect on decisions to conduct individual projects but that they did increase the overall amount of research and development conducted.

Exports: United Arab Emirates

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many export licences have been granted to AssetCo plc for the sale of equipment to the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for use by the (a) army, (b) police and (c) fire service in the UAE in the last five years for which figures are available.

Mark Prisk: I refer the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) on 10 May 2011, Official Report, column 1190W.

Green Investment Bank

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on what date he applied for EU state aid approval for the creation of the Green Investment Bank.

Mark Prisk: The UK has begun the process of engaging with the EU Commission over the Green Investment Bank proposals to ensure their compatibility with the state aid provisions in the EU treaty. We expect substantive pre-notification discussions will take place over the summer with the aim of submitting a formal state aid notification later this year.

Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of his Department’s employees work out of premises in the London borough of Havering.

Edward Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills currently has no employees located in premises in the London borough of Havering.

Higher Education: Admissions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the right hon. Member for Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) and Old Southwark on the implications of his proposals for off-quota university places.

David Willetts: Both the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), and I have had a number of discussions on how we assure fair access. Core to our principles for considering options for enabling off-quota recruitment is to ensure that all places would comply with the principles of fair access without any reduction in entry standards. I have not yet discussed specific off-quota options with my right hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark but we have discussed the numbers of applicants that in recent years have been unable to secure a place at university.

Higher Education: Admissions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether public schools will be able to sponsor off-quota places in universities under his proposals; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: We want to make it easier for employers and charities to sponsor students at universities, and to create a greater incentive for universities to set up sponsorship arrangements by allowing sponsored places to be additional to their student number allocations. We will only consider options that uphold the principle that admission to university must be on ability to learn, not on ability to pay. That is why any such scheme would need to comply with the conditions that the principles of fair access must apply, there would need to be genuine additional places, and there would be no reduction in entrance standards.
	Therefore it is clearly not the intention that independent schools should be able to sponsor places for their own pupils and after consultation we will ensure that there is a framework in place to prevent this.

Higher Education: Reading Berkshire

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of schools in Reading West constituency sent at least one pupil to the university of (a) Oxford and (b) Cambridge in each of the last 13 years.

David Willetts: Information has been provided by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Schools in Reading West with applicants accepted to full-time undergraduate courses at Oxford university or university of Cambridge via UCAS 
			  Schools with acceptances 
			  Oxford university University of Cambridge 
			 Year of entry Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 2001 3 33 1 11 
			 2002 3 43 0 0 
			 2003 1 14 0 0 
			 2004 2 29 0 0 
			 2005 0 0 1 17 
			 2006 1 13 2 25 
			 2007 1 13 1 13 
			 2008 2 25 1 13 
			 2009 2 29 1 14 
			 2010 2 25 1 13 
			 Source: UCAS. 
		
	
	Schools have been identified as those with a postcode in the Reading West parliamentary constituency. The figures cover schools classed by UCAS as comprehensive, grammar, independent and other secondary schools in England. Other kinds of centres have not contributed to this analysis. Only schools from which UCAS received applications in the cycle concerned have contributed to the proportion calculation. Figures do not account for students accepted to Oxford or Cambridge who applied directly, rather than via UCAS.
	Detailed data on applications via secondary schools are only available from 2001. Data for earlier years have not been provided as the necessary reference data is not available.

Office of Fair Trading

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to the Office of Fair Trading to carry out the investigations that the Head of that Office considers necessary.

Edward Davey: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is a non-ministerial Government Department and secures its budget allocation via the HM Treasury-led spending review process. As required by the spending review 2010 (SR10), the OFT submitted its plans for delivering its objectives within a reduced budget. The OFT's SR10 settlement was announced in October 2010. The OFT's budget for 2011-12 was set at £56 million. Internally, the OFT has allocated available resources in line with its published annual plan.

Regional Development Agencies: Redundancy Pay

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the calculation of redundancy pay for staff of regional development agencies in circumstances where there is a previous continuous service with a local authority employer; and what discretion he may exercise over the way in which such payments are determined.

Mark Prisk: Regional development agency (RDA) staff are covered by the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) as amended on 22 December 2010. The RDAs are also covered by the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government, etc.) (Modification) Order 1999.
	Where a local authority employee was transferred into an RDA under TUPE regulations, at the time of redundancy the RDA would pay the individual the better of:
	(a) his redundancy entitlement under CSCS terms for the period of employment with the RDA only;
	(b) redundancy entitlement under the terms of previous employment with the local authority for the full period of his continuous service with the local authority and the RDA; or
	(c) redundancy entitlement under any other terms reflecting a ministerial undertaking given at the point of transfer.
	Where a local authority employee joined an RDA voluntarily, at the time of redundancy the RDA would pay the individual the better of either (a) above; or the redundancy entitlement under statutory redundancy terms for the full period of continuous service with the local authority and the RDA. I have no authority to exercise discretion over the way redundancy payments are calculated.

Space: Industry

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what contribution the funding allocated to science centres in the 2011 Budget will make to the space industry.

David Willetts: Of the £100 million additional investment in science announced in the Budget, £10 million was earmarked to accelerate the development of the International Space Innovation Centre with the start of a National Space Technology Programme with industry.

Students: Fees and Charges

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will assess the potential effect of changes to higher education tuition fees on the ability of graduates to secure a mortgage.

David Willetts: The Council for Mortgage Lenders have advised that a student loan is very unlikely to materially impact on an individual’s ability to get a mortgage. The reduction in net income as a result of loan repayment results in a commensurate reduction in the amount a mortgage lender is willing to lend. That is one reason why our proposal to increase the repayment threshold from £15,000 to £21,000 reduces the amount borrowers need to repay each month, and therefore increases the amount of net monthly income available to them which could be helpful to them when applying for a mortgage.

Students: Loans

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what prominence he plans to give to information on the absence of any requirements for students to pay tuition fees upfront in his recently announced advertising campaign relating to student loans.

David Willetts: The Department considers it essential to ensure that prospective students and their families know about the full package of support available, to support access to higher education. One of the key messages for the campaign is that students will not have to pay up front. This message features in both our radio and digital advertising.

Technology and Innovation Centres

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2011, Official Report, column 715W, on innovation, with which centres funded by regional development agencies his Department has had direct contact in the course of its consideration of the future of such centres.

David Willetts: The Department has in recent times invested significant funding in a number of centres via the Strategic Investment Fund. These centres include the National Renewable Energy Centre, Wave Hub, the Centre for Process Innovation, and the National Composites Centre, and these have been the primary focus of our direct discussions. Officials across this Department also have formal and informal contacts with a number of centres in the context of their work although there is no formal record of these interactions.